<l 


CHARLES  LAMB  AND  THE  LLOYDS 


^%'?«'/<4S'^?^<!i:;«:fe^(?^-^.4^ 


CHARLES  LAMB 
^  THE  LLOYDS 

COMPRISING  NEWLY-DISCOV- 
ERED LETTERS  OF  CHARLES 
LAMB,  SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLE- 
RIDGE,   THE    LLOYDS,   Etc. 

EDITED  BY  E.  V.  LUCAS 

WITH    PORTRAITS 


J.    B.   LIPPINCOTT    COMPANY 
PHILADELPHIA      MDCCCXCIX 


Copyright,  189S 

BY 

J.  B.  LippiNcoTT  Company 


All  rights  reser-ved 


LIBRARY 
JJI«IVEllSn  Y  OF  CALIFOHiNlA 
y  D  SAIS  T A  B ARjB A  KA 

L7 


PREFACE 

This  book  grew  from  the  discovery,  in  1 894, 
of  two  masses  of  correspondence  relating  to 
the  family  of  Charles  Lloyd  (1748-1828),  the 
Quaker  philanthropist  and  banker  of  Birming- 
ham. The  papers,  which  are  very  numerous, 
contain  upwards  of  twenty  new  letters  of 
Charles  Lamb,  some  of  them  worthy  to  rank 
with  his  best,  and  others,  also  hitherto  un- 
published, of  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  Wil- 
liam Wordsworth,  Thomas  Manning,  Robert 
Southey,  Thomas  Clarkson,  Anna  Seward, 
Catherine  Hutton,  Priscilla  Lloyd  (1781-1815), 
who  married  Christopher  Wordsworth,  Charles 
Lloyd  the  poet  (1775-1839),  Robert  Lloyd  his 
brother  (1778-1811),  and  Mr.  Lloyd  himself 
With  the  aid  of  these  letters,  and  information 
contained  in  volumes  bearing  upon  the  period, 
it  has  been  possible  to  tell,  at  any  rate  in  out- 
line, the  story  of  a  notable  family. 


PREFACE 

The  Lloyds  with  whom  we  have  intercourse 
in  these  documents,  though  they  were  not  of 
remarkable  intellectual  achievement,  possessed 
very  fully  that  gift  of  interest  for  which  so 
many  Quakers  have  been  conspicuous.  All, 
in  one  way  or  another,  were  interesting.  Mr. 
Lloyd,  the  father,  had  much  of  Mr.  Gladstone's 
mental  vigour  and  variousness.  Publicly  he 
was  concerned  in  large  schemes  of  benevo- 
lence ;  in  private  he  played  the  scholar  to  such 
purpose  as  to  draw  praise  from  that  very  honest 
critic,  Charles  Lamb.  Mr.  Lloyd's  eldest  son, 
Charles,  also  interested  Lamb,  lived  for  a  while 
with  Coleridge,  and  later  in  life  was  the  friend 
of  "  Christopher  North,"  De  Quincey,  and 
Macready ;  while  Robert  Lloyd,  another  son, 
completely  won  Lamb's  sympathies  and  en- 
gaged him  in  a  correspondence  which  leaves 
literature  the  richer. 

Whether  any  more  Lamb  letters  are  forth- 
coming is  a  question  for  the  future  to  answer. 
The  fact  that  those  printed  in  this  volume  lay 
hidden  for  more  than  eighty  years  is  indication 


PREFACE 

enough  that  others  still  may  exist,  awaiting  the 
moment  appointed  by  fate  for  their  discovery. 
In  Canon  Ainger's  edition  of  Lamb's  "  Letters," 
for  example,  Elia's  epistolary  activity  in  1798 
is  represented  by  but  eight  letters,  and  in  1799 
by  the  same  number ;  whereas  it  is  reasonable 
to  assume  that  in  those  years  he  wrote  to  one 
friend  or  another  at  least  once  a  week.  It 
should  be  added  that  in  the  twenty-three  new 
letters  of  Lamb  which  follow  occasional  modi- 
fications of  punctuation  have  been  made. 

The  three  Coleridge  letters  were  written 
while  Charles  Lloyd  was  domesticated  with 
Coleridge  as  pupil  in  1 796.  They  belong  to  a 
period  when  the  philosopher  was  casting  about 
for  some  definite  plan  of  campaign,  and  help 
sensibly  towards  completing  our  portrait  of 
that  noticeable  man.  Later,  in  correspondence 
passing  between  the  Lloyds,  are  certain  acute 
observations  on  the  great  mind. 

Among  the  books  which  have  been  found 
most  useful  in  corroborating  and  fortifying  the 
information  contained  in  these  papers  must  be 


PREFACE 

mentioned  Canon  Ainger's  edition  of  Lamb's 
"  Letters,"  Mr.  Emest  Hartley  Coleridge's 
edition  of  Coleridge's  "  Letters,"  the  late  Mr. 
Dykes  Campbell's  edition  of  Coleridge's 
"  Poems,"  De  Quincey's  "  Autobiography,"  the 
"Dictionary  of  National  Biography,"  Mrs. 
Sandford's  "  Thomas  Poole  and  His  Friends," 
and  the  late  Bishop  Charles  Wordsworth's 
"  Annals  of  my  Early  Life." 

At  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  MSS.  a 
description  of  a  portion  of  them  was  printed  in 
the  "  Birmingham  Daily  Post"  (for  February  4, 
1 895) ;  a  few  weeks  later  an  account  of  certain 
others  was  contributed  to  the  "  Athenaeum" 
(for  March  2,  1895),  by  Dr.  James  Gow;  and 
two  articles  telling  the  story  of  the  friendship 
of  Charles  Lamb  and  Robert  Lloyd,  and  giving 
certain  extracts  from  their  letters,  appeared  in 
the  "  Cornhill"  and  in  "  Lippincott's"  for  May 
and  June  of  the  present  year.  But  the  docu- 
ments that  follow  are  now  for  the  first  time 
made  public  in  their  entirety. 

The  Coleridge  letters  are  here  printed   by 


PREFACE 

arrangement  with  the  poet's  grandson,  Mr 
Ernest  Hartley  Coleridge,  and  other  letters  by 
permission  of  Canon  Manning,  Mr.  Gordon 
Wordsworth,  and  other  representatives  of  the 
writers.  For  the  portraits  of  Charles  Lloyd 
and  Sophia  Lloyd,  now  for  the  first  time  re- 
produced, I  am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Mr. 
C.  A.  Lloyd.  They  were  painted  by  Constable, 
who  visited  Birmingham  as  the  guest  of  James 
Lloyd,  another  son  of  Bingley  Hall,  early  in 
the  century.  Thanks  are  also  due,  for  infor- 
mation and  help,  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  H.  Steeds, 
Mr.  Henry  Crewdson,  and  Mr.  Charles  Linnell ; 
and,  for  his  kindness  in  reading  the  proofs  and 
advising  thereon,  to  Mr.  W.  P.  Ker. 

E.  V.  L. 

London:   October  iS^i 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


I. — The  Lloyds 15 

II. — Coleridge  and  Charles  Lloyd  ....  27 

III. — Coleridge,  Lamb,  and  Charles  Lloyd  51 

IV. — **  Edmund  Oliver"  and  the  "  Theses"  64 

V. — "  The  Anti-Jacobin" 85 

VI. — Charles  Lamb  and  Robert  Lloyd     .    .  94 

VII. — Thomas  Manning  and  Robert  Lloyd  .  118 

VIII. — Charles  Lamb  as  Critic 136 

IX. — Robert  Lloyd's  Marriage 162 

X. — Robert  Lloyd's  London  Visit  ....  170 

XI. — Robert  Lloyd's  Death 187 

XII. — Mr.   Lloyd's  "Iliad" 194 

XIII. — Mr.  Lloyd's  "  Odyssey" 229 

XIV. — Mr.  Lloyd's  "  Horace" 245 

XV. — Charles  Lloyd  at  Old  Brathay  .    .    .  259 

XVI. — Charles  Lloyd  in  London 275 

XVII — Mr.  Lloyd's  Later  Years 297 

Index 317 


zi 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Charles  Lamb Frontispiece 

From  a  painting  by  fVilliam  Haxlitt. 

FAGK 

Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge To  face     30 

From  a  fainting  by  Peter  Vandyke. 

Facsimile    of    a    Letter    from    Charles 

Lamb  to  Robert  Lloyd "         107 

Charles  Lloyd  (i 775-1 839) "         260 

From  a  painting  by  John  Constable. 

Sophia  Lloyd  and  Child  (Sophia)     .    .         •*         288 

From  a  painting  by  jfohn  Constable. 


13 


CHARLES  LAMB  AND 
THE  LLOYDS 

¥¥¥ 

I 

THE    LLOYDS 

The  Lloyds,  an  old  and  honourable  Welsh 
family,  were  seated  for  many  generations  at 
Dolobran,  in  Montgomery.  The  present  mem- 
bers, who  are  of  unusual  numerical  strength, 
trace  their  descent  both  to  the  Kings  of  Dyfed 
and — through  the  marriage  of  Charles  Lloyd  of 
Dolobran  (1637-1698)  with  Ehzabeth  Lort — 
to  Edward  L 

This  Charles  Lloyd  and  his  brother  Thomas 
were  the  first  Quakers  in  the  family.  Like  so 
many  of  the  warriors  for  spiritual  liberty  gath- 
ered under  George  Fox's  bloodless  flag,  they  did 
not  escape  suffering  and  persecution.  Charles 
Lloyd,  indeed,  had  a  full  share,  for  in  1662  he 
was  thrown  into  prison  at  Welshpool  for  refus- 

15 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

ing  to  take  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  suprem- 
acy, and  not  for  ten  years  was  he  at  large  again. 
Thither  his  wife  accompanied  him,  and  it  was 
under  these  distressing  conditions  that  their 
eldest  son  Charles  was  born.  Although  still  an 
offender,  Charles  Lloyd  was  allowed  by  his 
judge,  Lord  Herbert,  to  leave  the  prison  and 
remain  under  inspection  and  restraint  in  a  house 
at  Welshpool,  where  his  second  son,  Sampson 
Lloyd,  was  born  in  1664.  Eight  years  later,  on 
the  pronouncement  of  the  royal  Declaration  of 
Indulgence,  Charles  Lloyd  was  again  able  to 
return  to  Dolobran.  His  spirit  was  in  no  re- 
spect broken,  and  his  after  life,  which  did  not 
terminate  until  1 698,  was  zealous  for  the  brave 
little  sect  he  had  joined. 

His  first  son,  Charles  Lloyd  (1662-1747), 
who  succeeded  him  at  Dolobran,  greatly  im- 
proved the  estate,  and  set  up  furnaces  for  the 
forging  of  charcoal  iron  ;  while  the  second  son, 
Sampson  Lloyd  (1664-1724),  moved  to  Bir- 
mingham, where  he  opened  an  iron  warehouse 
in  connection  with  this  new  industry,  and  was 
able  without  molestation — for  Birmingham  was 
friendly  to  Nonconformists — to  pursue  his  way 

as  a  follower  of  George  Fox. 

16 


THE   LLOYDS 

Sampson  Lloyd  was  married  twice :  first,  in 
1685,  to  Elizabeth  Good,  and  secondly,  in 
1695,  to  Mary  Crowley.  By  the  second  wife 
he  had  two  daughters  and  four  sons,  one  of 
whom  was  Sampson  Lloyd,  of  Birmingham 
and  Farm  (1699-1779),  ironmaster,  and  the 
founder  of  Lloyds  Bank. 

This  Sampson  Lloyd  also  married  twice. 
He  wedded  first  with  Sarah  Parks,  of  Birming- 
ham, a  union  from  which  sprang  Sampson 
Lloyd  (1728-1807),  and  through  him  the 
Lloyds  of  Farm,  of  whom  the  history  may  be 
read  in  the  little  record  called  "  Farm  and  its 
Inhabitants,"  privately  printed  for  the  family  in 
1883.'     From  Sampson  Lloyd's  second  mar- 

*  It  was  this  Sampson  Lloyd  whom  Dr.  Johnson,  who  disliked 
Quakers  as  a  sect,  but  could  be  attracted  by  them  individually,  visited, 
with  Boswell,  in  1776  :  "  We  next,"  Boswell  wrote,  "  called  on  Mr. 
Lloyd,  one  of  the  people  called  Quakers.  He  too  was  not  at  home, 
but  Mrs.  Lloyd  was,  and  received  us  courteously,  and  asked  us  to  din- 
ner. Johnson  said  to  me,  '  After  the  uncsA-tainty  of  all  human 
things  at  Hector's,  this  invitation  came  very  well."  "  At  dinner,  Mr. 
Lloyd  having  returned,  the  Doctor,  addressing  his  host  and  hostess 
(who  had  many  children),  remarked  :  "  Marriage  is  the  best  state  for 
a  man  in  general ;  and  every  man  is  a  worse  man  in  proportion  as  he 
is  unfit  for  the  married  state."  Subsequently  both  the  Doctor  and 
Mr.  Lloyd  were  lured  into  error  during  a  discussion  on  Baptism.  The 
only  other  remark  of  the  great  man  recorded  by  Boswell  was  this  : 
"  The  church  does  not  superstitiously  observe  days,  merely  as  days, 
2  17 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

riage — with  Rachel  Champion,  of  Bristol — 
came  the  family  with  which  this  book  is  con- 
cerned, Charles  Lloyd,  of  Bingley,  who  suc- 
ceeded to  the  bank,  being  the  fourth  son. 

Charles  Lloyd,  of  Bingley,  was  born  August 
23,  1 748.  He  was  educated  with  the  thorough- 
ness common  at  that  time  to  the  children  of 
wealthy  Quakers ;  and  being  gifted  with  a 
memory  of  singular  power,  he  learned  much. 
Although,  in  accordance  with  his  father's  prin- 
ciples, a  period  at  a  university  could  not  round 
otf  his  boyhood,  Charles  Lloyd  must  have  en- 
tered business  with  a  larger  store  of  classical 
knowledge  than  many  masters  of  arts  can 
boast. 

He  married,  in  1774,  Mary  Farmer,  who 
also  was  of  the  Friends,  and  they  had,  like 
most   Lloyds,  a  very  large  family,^  of  whom 

but  as  memorials  of  important  facts.  Christmas  might  be  kept  as  well 
upon  one  day  of  the  year  as  another  ;  but  there  should  be  a  stated 
day  for  commemorating  the  birth  of  our  Saviour,  because  there  is 
danger  that  what  may  be  done  on  any  day,  will  be  neglected."  Dr. 
Johnson,  it  should  be  noted,  was  in  his  youth  in  love  with  a  Quakeress 
named  Olivia  Lloyd  (possibly  his  host's  aunt  of  that  name),  to  whom 
he  wrote  a  copy  of  amatory  verses,  which  do  not,  however,  exist. 

'  Yet  as  to  its  precise  dimensions  opinions  differ.  In  "  Farm  and 
its  Inhabitants"  the  number  is  given  as  12;  Bishop  Wordsworth,  of 
St.  Andrews,  a  grandson  of  Mr.  Lloyd,  says  15  ;   and  De  Quincey,  17 

iS 


THE   LLOYDS 

Charles  Lloyd,  bom  in  lyy^,  the  friend  of 
Coleridge  and  Lamb,  was  the  first,  and  Robert, 
born  in  1778,  Lamb's  correspondent  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  the  third. 

Mrs.  Lloyd,  who  lived  until  1821,  was  a 
woman  of  great  sweetness  of  character — "  the 
kindest  and  tenderest  mother,"  wrote  her  eldest 
son  after  her  death.  "She  was  humble,"  he 
added  in  the  same  memoir,  "  even  to  profound 
self-abasedness :  disinterested  even  to  nobility 
of  soul :  and  self-denying,  and  devout,  to  a 
degree  which  those  who  give  the  preference  to 
the  active  over  the  passive  virtues,  would  call 
ascetic  and  mystical :  but  with  all  this  rigidity 
and  austerity  as  respected  herself,  she  was  of  all 
human  beings,  and  in  many  striking  instances 
she  evinced  this,  the  most  disposed  to  extenuate 
the  failings  of  the  inconsistent,  to  check  the 
despair  of  the  culpable,  and  to  wipe  the  tear  of 
shame  and  penitence  from  the  cheek  of  the 
victim  to  '  the  Sin  which  most  easily  besetteth 
him.'  This,  as  many  can  testify,  is  not  pane- 
gyric, but  plain  and  unvarnished  truth."     And 


or  18.     Foster's  "  Royal  Lineage"   enumerates  14,  three  dying  in  in- 
fancy. 

19 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

in  a  poem  inspired  by  the  death  of  his  mother, 
Charles  Lloyd  also  wrote  of  her  charity  of 
mind  and  purse : 

In  thee  it  was 
A  fresh,  gratuitous,  and  healthful  spring. 
Like  that  of  living  waters. 

And  again : 

In  that  warm  bosom  there  did  dwell  enshrined 
A  human  microcosm,  which  reflected 
All  the  mind's  accidents. 

Mr.  Lloyd, — as  hereafter,  for  the  sake  of 
distinction,  her  husband  may  be  called, — was 
of  extraordinary  intellectual  vigour.  He  con- 
trived, while  neglecting  neither  his  business, 
which  prospered  continuously  under  his  care, 
nor  his  family,  to  concern  himself  intimately 
in  public  affairs,  both  of  Birmingham  and  the 
country.  The  following  passage  from  an  ex- 
cellent account  of  Mr.  Lloyd  in  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine,  March,  1828,  is  illuminative: 

In  the  pursuit  of  any  object  of  his  attention,  he  suf- 
fered no  other  to  interfere  with  or  distract  it,  and  he 
possessed  the  power  of  turning,  after  laborious  investi- 
gations, with  surprising  freshness  to  occupations  requiring 
intellectual  exertions  of  a   different  nature.     Few  men, 

20 


THE   LLOYDS 

perhaps,  so  rich  in  resources,  had  them  so  much  at  com- 
mand. He  embraced  with  promptness,  and  zealously 
prosecuted,  whatever  appeared  to  his  comprehensive 
mind  conducive  to  the  benefit  of  his  species,  or  the 
happiness  of  those  connected  with  him.  He  was  an  un- 
wearied and  able  member  of  that  body  of  Philanthropists, 
to  whose  persevering  efforts  Great  Britain  is  indebted  for 
the  removal  of  that  foulest  stain  upon  her  annals — the 
Slave  Trade.  Nor  have  his  efforts  ever  slackened  to  aid 
the  plans  proposed  for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition 
of  the  Negro  population  of  our  dominions  in  the  West 
Indies ;  and  although  he  wished  for  the  trial  of  more 
moderate  measures  than  those  proposed  by  many  of  the 
advocates  for  emancipation,  yet  he  generally  concurred  in 
the  principles  advocated  in  Parliament  by  his  nephew, 
Mr.  Buxton  [afterwards  Sir  Thomas  Powell  Buxton, 
( 1 786-1 845)],  and  he  always  took  the  lead  on  public 
occasions  when  this  subject  was  brought  forward  in 
Birmingham.  A  lover  of  peace  and  an  admirer  of  the 
constitution  of  his  country,  he  deprecated,  in  common 
with  all  the  friends  of  humanity,  the  unwise  measures 
which  the  ministry  of  Lord  North  in  1775  were  con- 
templating for  stifling  opposition  to  its  will  in  the  North 
American  colonies.  When  all  negotiation  seemed  fruitless, 
and  the  overbearing  conduct  of  the  Minister  had  determined 
Dr.  Franklin  to  depart ;  when  the  horrors  of  civil  war 
and  the  disunion  of  the  Empire  seemed  inevitable  ;  Mr. 
Lloyd  and  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  David  Barclay,  did 
not  consider  affairs  so  irretrievable  as  not  to  warrant  an- 
other attempt  at  reconciliation.  After  much  persuasion 
and   entreaty.    Dr.    Franklin   yielded,    and    he    told   his 

21 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

friends  that,  though  he  considered  the  attempt  hopeless, 
yet  he  could  not  resist  the  desire  he  felt,  in  common  with 
them,  to  preserve  peace.  Some  minor  concessions  were 
made  by  the  Colonies  at  the  suggestions  of  these  gentle- 
men. Lord  North,  as  is  known,  was  inexorable,  and  the 
Envoy  returned  from  the  conference,  the  last  which  a 
representative  from  that  country  had  with  an  English 
cabinet,  until  she  sent  her  plenipotentiary  to  treat  as  a 
Sovereign  Republic. 

Mr.  Lloyd  was  also  a  leading  figure  in  the 
Bible  Society,  and  to  his  expenditure  of  money 
and  effort  the  Birmingham  General  Hospital 
owes  the  beginnings  of  its  large  usefulness. 

To  quote  again  from  the  same  biographical 
notice :  "  What  minds  less  energetic  would 
have  deemed  studies  of  no  trifling  nature,  were 
allotted  for  the  occupation  of  those  hours 
which  he  considered  set  apart  for  relaxation. 
His  acquaintance  with  ancient  and  modern  his- 
tory was  accurate  and  extensive,  and  he  read 
in  several  European  languages  their  works  of 
note.  Few  men  were  better  versed  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  or  more  complete  masters  of  their 
contents.  He  could  repeat  from  memory  sev- 
eral entire  Books  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  greatest  part  of  the  New,  and  was  well 
versed  in  theological  learning.     But  next  to 


THE   LLOYDS 

the  Scriptures,  the  classics  were  his  favourite 
study.  When  past  sixty  he  commenced  a 
translation  of  Homer,  and  executed  a  faithful 
and  agreeable  version  of  the  whole  of  the 
'  Odyssey'  and  great  part  of  the  '  Iliad.' "  Mr. 
Lloyd  also  turned  his  attention  to  Horace, 
translating  several  of  the  Epistles  into  easy 
verse ;  but  to  these  pleasant  tasks  we  shall  refer 
again.  "  Virgil,"  the  writer  in  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine  continued,  "  was  very  familiar  to 
him  ;  his  extraordinary  memory  retained  to  the 
close  of  his  life  the  whole  of  the  '  Georgics' 
and  '  Bucolics.'  The  agreeable  picture  of  farm- 
ing so  beautifully  portrayed  in  those  inimitable 
descriptions  of  pastoral  life,  induced  Mr.  Lloyd 
to  take  one  of  his  estates  into  his  own  hands, 
and  for  thirty  years  he  farmed  under  his  own 
inspection  nearly  two  hundred  acres.  [This 
was  at  Olton  Green,  of  which  more  later.] 
One  day  in  the  week  was  at  least  devoted  to 
this  pursuit,  and  the  relaxation  which  this  in- 
teresting employment  yielded  him,  contributed, 
in  conjunction  with  temperance  and  cheerful- 
ness, to  keep  a  naturally  delicate  constitution 
in  health  and  vigour  to  a  late  period  of  his 
life." 

23 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

We  have  glimpses  of  Mr.  Lloyd's  domestic 
thoroughness,  his  capacity  for  keeping  in  touch 
with  every  member  of  his  household,  in  his 
letters  to  his  sons  at  school,  a  few  of  which 
have  been  preserved.  Here  are  typical  extracts 
from  one  addressed  to  Robert,  Thomas,  and 
Plumstead  Lloyd,  in  1792  : 

"  I  have  sent  you  some  paper,  a  spade,  pen- 
cils, and  painting  brushes,  and  a  '  Virgil'  and 
'  Selecta,'  &c.,  all  which  you  will,  I  hope,  make 
a  good  use  of,  ...  I  observe  your  request  for 
fishing  rods,  but  I  do  not  wish  you  to  be  too 
frequent  in  using  them,  for  it  is  cruel  to  the 
poor  worms,  who  are  put  to  great  torture.  I 
have  not  sent  any  rods,  thinking  if  your  Master 
approves  of  your  fishing  now  and  then,  that 
long  Osier  twigs  will  do  as  well  as  any  rods. 
As  you  have  already  plenty  of  books,  I  would 
have  you  be  diligent  in  reading  them,  for  a  few 
books  well  chosen  and  frequently  read  are  much 
better  than  a  great  number  ill-chosen.  .  .  . 
Tho'  you  are  very  young,  yet  you  are  old 
enough  to  know  and  consider  that  life  is  very 
uncertain,  and  the  Youth  as  well  as  the  Old  are 
often  summoned  to  the  Silent  Grave  ;  but  these 

reflections,  my  dear  Boys,  have  no  occasion  to 

24 


THE   LLOYDS 

make  you  sorrowful,  for  if  wc  do  what  is  right, 
Death  can  never  come  at  an  unsuitable  time." 
In  another  letter  we  find  him  dealing  with 
matters  usually  left  to  the  mother's  care  :  "  I 
think  the  breeches  Robert  had  on  at  Warwick 
were  very  good  ones,  but  if  he  wants  another 
pair,  let  the  Shipston  Tailor  make  them  ;  but  be 
sure,  mind,  that  he  makes  them  long  enough." 
This  sufficiently  proves  Mr.  Lloyd's  vigilance 
as  a  father.  From  his  thoughtful  plans  for  his 
children's  pleasure  we  learn  that  he  was  more 
than  merely  vigilant :  he  possessed  the  kindly 
faculty — which  may  be  imaginative  sympathy, 
and  may  be  recollection  of  one's  own  childish 
days — that  controls  the  choice  of  presents  and 
ensures  their  congeniality.  Mrs.  Lloyd,  once 
sending  to  Robert  the  latest  news  (and  a  cake) 
said :  "  Priscilla  concludes  to  omit  writing,  so  I 
may  inform  you  of  the  arrival  of  the  Squirrels, 
who  came  in  their  large  House,  plac'd  upon  a 
Waggon  drawn  by  Six  Horses,  to  the  no  small 
surprise  and  amusement  of  the  spectators.  We 
were  a  little  puzzled  where  to  fix  them,  but  they 
were,  after  due  deliberation^  plac'd  below  the 
Terrace,  where  they  seem  to  enjoy  good  health 
and  an  excellent  appetite.  I  forget  whether 
25 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

your  Papa  had  brought  a  little  open  Carriage 
for  Caroline  and  Agatha  before  you  went — the 
little  girls  are  much  amused  with  drawing  it 
about  the  Garden." 

In  Mr,  Lloyd,  in  short,  all  the  self-control, 
the  sagacity,  the  dignity,  the  kindly  benevo- 
lence, the  even  temperament,  of  the  old-time 
Quaker  were  carried  out  to  their  fullest  power. 


26 


n 

COLERIDGE    AND    CHARLES    LLOYD 

1796-1797 

Charles  Lloyd,  born  in  1 775,  the  eldest  of 
the  family,  was  a  contemplative,  self-conscious, 
sensitive  youth,  continuously  afflicted  with 
nervous  weakness.  He  had  much  of  the  Lake 
poets'  delight  in  scenery ;  he  was  a  profoundly 
interested  inquirer  into  ethical  questions ;  he 
would  examine  an  emotion  with  almost  more 
assiduity  than  his  master  Rousseau  himself; 
and  quite  early  he  ceased  to  subscribe  to  the 
teaching  of  Friends.  Quaker  families  now  and 
then  produce  such  exotics. 

On  leaving  school  early  in  the  nineties,  he 
followed  the  natural  course  of  an  eldest  son 
and  entered  his  father's  business.  For  a  while 
the  work  there  was  congenial,  but  in  1 794  his 
health  gave  way,  and  he  descended  from  the 
high  stool,  never  to  return  to  it.  On  recover- 
ing, he  proceeded  to  Edinburgh  with  some  idea 

of  studying   medicine.     Edinburgh,   however, 
27 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

held  him  but  a  brief  space,  and  we  find  him 
next,  in  1 795,  living  with  Wordsworth's  friend, 
Thomas  Wilkinson — Wilkinson  of  the  spade 
— at  Yanwath.  It  was  there  that  Lloyd  pro- 
duced his  first  volume  of  poems.  "  He  has  a 
poetical  turn,"  wrote  Wilkinson  of  his  young 
friend,  "  and  writes  most  beautiful  verse.  His 
attachment  is  to  a  pastoral  life,  as  most  natural 
and  consistent  with  his  own  feelings.  He 
would  prefer  life  in  the  country  with  100/.  a 
year  to  1,000/.  in  the  town." 

Most  introspective  men,  however  confident 
and  light-hearted  they  may  afterwards  become, 
are  serious  in  the  late  teens.  Letters  from 
Charles  Lloyd  to  his  brother  Robert,  then  ap- 
prentice at  Saffron  Walden,  show  him  to  have 
been  doubly  so.  In  1794,  the  writer  being 
then  nineteen  and  Robert  sixteen,  Robert  was 
thus  adjured :  "  Do  not  give  way  to  useless 
speculation.  I  advise  you  particularly  to  read 
Rousseau's  '  Emilius,'  in  French  if  you  can, 
and  pray,  out  of  regard  to  Charles^  who  now 
earnestly  entreats^  pay  particular  attention  to  the 
Savoyard  vicar's  confessions  of  faith,  in  the 
2nd  or  3rd  vol.     Get  that  book  at  all  events. 

Do  not  attend  to  the  intricacies  of  sectarian 

28 


COLERIDGE   AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

peculiarities ;  be  a  good  man,  retain  a  pure 
heart,  but  oh  !  avoid  alike  the  Quaker  and  the 
Libertine,  the  Methodist  and  the  Atheist." 

In  another  letter,  dated  November  29,  1795, 
thirteen  months  later,  a  more  miscellaneous 
course  of  reading  was  prescribed  for  the  Saf- 
fron Walden  apprentice.  Charles  began  thus  : 
"  I  am  convinced  that  nothing  tends  so  much 
to  narrow  the  mind  as  sectarian  and  confin'd 
notions  of  religion  and  morality.  The  pure 
ardour  of  universal  benevolence  does  not  abate 
at  the  sight  of  a  Lutheran  or  a  Quaker,  a 
Catholic  or  an  Unbeliever.  No  I  it  considers 
all  the  petty,  paltry  distinctions  of  parties  and 
sects,  which  would  separate  man  from  man 
and  brother  from  brother,  as  originating  in  the 
weaknesses  and  prejudices  of  mankind ;  it  de- 
spises them  all,  and  simply  seeks  by  active 
usefulness,  not  by  unintelligible  dogmas,  to 
diffuse  good  and  enlarge  the  confin'd  limit  of 
human  felicity."  The  following  volumes  were 
then  recommended:  Holcroft's  "Anna  St.  Ives," 
Godwin's  "Political  Justice,"  Priestley's  "Letters 
to  a  Philosophical  Unbeliever"  and  "  History 
of  Christianity"  (this  might  be  either  the  "  His- 
tory of  the  Corruptions  of  Christianity,"  or  "  A 

29 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

General  History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  of 
which  only  the  first  two  volumes  were  then 
in  existence),  Paley's  "Evidence,"  Lindsey's 
"Apology"  (for  Unitarianism),  and  "Conver- 
sations" on  the  same  subject.  "  When  you 
have  read  these,  all  of  which  I  am  convinc'd 
it  will  be  to  your  advantage  to  peruse,  I  shall 
then  gladly  point  out  other  works."  Finally 
came  the  advice  to  read  Volney's  "  Ruins  of 
Empire,"  but  "  with  caution." 

Is  it  matter  for  surprise  that  the  writer  of 
these  letters  became  the  enthusiastic  disciple 
of  Coleridge,  when  that  prophet,  glowing  with 
youth  and  belief  in  the  power  and  lustre  of 
his  projected  "  Watchman,"  visited  Birming- 
ham early  in  1 796  *? 

One  eloquent  man  is  more,  to  young  in- 
quirers, than  all  the  books  in  the  Bodleian, 
and  Charles  Lloyd  had  been  waiting  for  years 
to  meet  with  such  a  mind  as  Coleridge's — 
glowing  and  confident,  tireless  and  persuasive 
— and  he  fell  completely  under  the  spell.  A 
few  months  later  Coleridge  again  stopped  in 
Birmingham,  on  his  return  from  Derby,  where 
a  school  was  in  preparation  for  him,  and  the 
adoration   of  the   young    visionary    (younger 

30 


SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE. 

AGED  23. 

By  Peter  Vandyke. 


From  a  picture  in  the  National  Portrait  Galtery. 


COLERIDGE   AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

than  Coleridge  by  two  years)  intensified. 
Charles  Lloyd  was  then  again  living  at  home, 
building  castles  in  the  air  which  bore  as  little 
resemblance  as  might  be  to  the  family  bank ; 
for,  as  Joseph  Cottle  wrote  in  his  "  Early  Rec- 
ollections," "  the  tedious  and  unintellectual  oc- 
cupation of  adjusting  pounds,  shillings  and 
pence"  suits  those  alone  who  have  never, "  eagle- 
like, gazed  at  the  sun  or  bathed  their  temples 
in  the  dews  of  Parnassus." 

Charles  Lloyd  desired  with  all  his  soul  to 
lead  the  exalted  existence  of  a  philosopher  and 
poet ;  and  already  having  written  a  number  of 
sonnets  of  a  meditative  and  melancholy  cast, 
forsworn  the  paternal  creed,  and  passed  through 
a  stage  of  acute  Rousseauism,  he  was  perhaps 
entitled  to  his  dream.  The  first  step  to  the 
consummation  of  this  ambition  was  domesti- 
cation with  Coleridge  as  pupil  and  friend ;  and 
Coleridge,  when  the  plan  was  suggested  to 
him,  seems  to  have  been  agreeable.  It  was, 
of  course,  a  flattering  proposal,  likely  to  please 
any  man,  particularly  a  "  Pantisocratist"  of 
twenty-three.  He  even  addressed  to  Charles 
Lloyd  a  poem  describing  some  of  the  delights 
of  their  projected  companionship : 

31 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Together  thus,  the  world's  vain  turmoil  left, 
Stretch'd  on  the  crag,  and  shadovv'd  by  the  pine. 

And  bending  o'er  the  clear  delicious  fount. 
Ah!  dearest  youth  !  it  were  a  lot  divine 
To  cheat  our  noons  in  moralising  mood. 
While  west-winds  fann'd  our  temples  toil-bedew'd  : 

Then  downwards  slope,  oft  pausing,  from  the  mount. 
To  some  lone  mansion,  in  some  woody  dale. 
Where  smiling  with  blue  eye,  Domestic  Bliss 
Gives  this  the  Husband's,  that  the  Brother's  kiss ! 

And  thus : — 

We'll  smile  at  wealth,  and  learn  to  smile  at  fame. 
Our  hopes,  our  knowledge,  and  our  joys  the  same. 

As  neighbouring  fountains  image  each  the  whole : 
Then  when  the  mind  hath  drunk  its  fill  of  truth 

We'll  discipline  the  heart  to  pure  delight. 
Rekindling  sober  joy's  domestic  flame. 
They  whom  I  love  shall  love  thee,  honour'd  youth  ! 

Now  may  Heaven  realise  this  vision  bright ! 

And  among  Lloyd's  poems,  in  the  joint  volume 
by  himself,  Coleridge  and  Lamb  (1797),  is  an 
address  to  Coleridge,  ending 

My  Coleridge  !  take  the  wanderer  to  thy  breast. 
The  youth  who  loves  thee,  and  who,  faint,  would  rest 
(Oft  rack'd  by  hopes  that  frenzy  and  expire) 
In  the  long  sabbath  of  subdued  desire  ! 

32 


COLERIDGE   AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

which  we  may  suppose  to  have  been  written  at 
the  same  period. 

In  default  of  banking,  for  which  there  can 
be  no  doubt  Charles  Lloyd  was  peculiarly  un- 
fitted, Mr.  Lloyd  still  thought  of  the  medical 
profession  for  his  son.  But  there  was  no  call 
for  haste ;  and  when  Charles  mentioned  his 
wish  to  join  Coleridge,  it  was  favourably  enter- 
tained. After  further  consideration  of  the  proj- 
ect, Mr.  Lloyd  invited  Coleridge  to  pay  another 
visit  to  Birmingham  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
ference, and  in  September,  1796,  Coleridge  did 
so.  While  at  the  Lloyds'  house  he  was  sur- 
prised by  an  announcement  that  on  the  pre- 
vious day,  September  19,  he  had  become  the 
father  of  a  son.  Straightway  he  hastened 
home  ;  and  with  him  went  Charles  Lloyd,  who 
thus  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  being  one  of  the 
first  persons  to  welcome  David  Hartley  Cole- 
ridge into  this  world.  More :  there  is  good 
reason  to  suppose,  although  another  Charles — 
Charles  Lamb — is  also  a  candidate  for  the 
honour,  that  it  was  Charles  Lloyd  to  whom  the 
father  addressed  the  sonnet  inscribed  "  To  a 
Friend  who  asked,  How  I  felt  when  the  nurse 
first  presented  my  infant  to  me ;"  which  begins 
3  33 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Charles  !  my  slow  heart  was  only  sad,  when  first 
I  scann'd  that  face  of  feeble  infancy  ; 

and  ends  thus  charmingly : — 

So  for  the  Mother's  sake  the  Child  was  dear. 
And  dearer  was  the  Mother  for  the  Child. 

To  reach  Coleridge's  house  when  so  im- 
portant an  event  was  happening  was  to  begin 
the  companionship  auspiciously,  and  Charles 
Lloyd  was  forthwith  at  home.  "  My  mother," 
wrote  Sara  Coleridge  in  her  notes  to  the  "  Bio- 
graphia  Literaria,"  "  has  often  told  me  how 
amiable  Mr.  Lloyd  was  as  a  youth  ;  how  kind 
to  her  little  Hartley  ;  how  well  content  with  cot- 
tage accommodation ;  how  painfully  sensitive 
in  all  that  related  to  the  affections."  Coleridge 
seems  to  have  been  genuinely  attracted  by  his 
pupil.  On  September  24  we  find  him  writing 
to  his  friend  Thomas  Poole :  "  Charles  Lloyd 
wins  upon  me  hourly ;  his  heart  is  uncom- 
monly pure,  his  affections  delicate,  and  his  be- 
nevolence enlivened  but  not  sicklied  by  sensi- 
bility. He  is  assuredly  a  man  of  great  genius  ; 
but  it  must  be  in  tite-a-ttte  with  one  whom  he 
loves  and  esteems  that  his  colloquial  powers 

34 


COLERIDGE  AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

open.  ...  I  shall  write  on  the  other  side  of 
the  paper  two  of  Charles  Lloyd's  sonnets,  which 
he  wrote  in  one  evening  at  Birmingham.  The 
latter  of  them  alludes  to  the  conviction  of  the 
truth  of  Christianity,  which  he  had  received 
from  me,  for  he  had  been,  if  not  a  deist,  yet 
quite  a  sceptic."  Thus  favourably  the  experi- 
ment began. 

Mr.  Lloyd,  writing  to  Robert  a  few  days 
later,  informed  him  of  the  news  in  these 
words : — "  Charles  is  gone  to  Bristol  with  in- 
tention of  pursuing  his  studies  under  the  care 
of  S.  T.  Coleridge,  a  very  sensible,  religious 
man  and  an  extraordinary  poet,  who  was  edu- 
cated for  a  clergyman,  but  for  conscience  sake 
declined  that  office.  Thou  mayst  order  Cole- 
ridge's '  Poems'  of  the  bookseller  at  S.  Walden 
(a  small  octavo)  and  charge  them  to  my  ac- 
count." 

The  original  arrangement  was  that  Charles 
was  to  pay  80/.  a  year  in  return  for  board, 
lodging,  instruction,  and  the  companionship  of 
his  friend  and  mentor.  At  first  it  was  sup- 
posed that  the  household  would  be  located  at 
Derby,  where  Coleridge,  at  the  instigation  of 
Dr.   Crompton,   had    undertaken    to   open   a 

35 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

school.  But  the  following  tremendous — almost 
Micawberesque — letter  from  Coleridge  to  Mr. 
Lloyd  indicated  a  change  of  plans : — 

"  Dear  Sir, — As  the  father  of  Charles  Lloyd 
you  are  of  course  in  some  measure  interested  in 
any  alteration  of  my  schemes  of  life ;  and  I 
feel  it  a  kind  of  Duty  to  give  you  my  reasons 
for  any  such  alteration.  I  have  declined  my 
Derby  connection,  and  determined  to  retire 
once  for  all  and  utterly  from  cities  and  towns : 
and  am  about  to  take  a  cottage  and  half  a  dozen 
acres  of  land  in  an  enchanting  Situation  about 
eight  miles  from  Bridgewater.  My  reasons 
are — that  I  have  cause  to  believe  my  Health 
would  be  materially  impaired  by  residing  in 
a  town,  and  by  the  close  confinement  and 
anxieties  incident  to  the  education  of  children  ; 
that  as  my  days  would  be  dedicated  to  Dr. 
Crompton's  children,  and  my  evenings  to  a 
course  of  study  with  my  admirable  young 
friend,  I  should  have  scarcely  a  snatch  of  time 
for  literary  occupation  ;  and,  above  all,  because 
I  am  anxious  that  my  children  should  be  bred 
up  from  earliest  infancy  in  the  simplicity  of 
peasants,  their  food,  dress,  and  habits  com- 
pletely rustic.     I  never  shall,  and  I  never  will, 

36 


COLERIDGE   AND    CHARLES   LLOYD 

have  any  fortune  to  leave  them :  I  will  leave 
them  therefore  hearts  that  desire  little,  heads 
that  know  how  little  is  to  be  desired,  and  hands 
and  arms  accustomed  to  earn  that  little.  I  am 
peculiarly  delighted  with  the  2 1  st  verse  of  the 
4th  chapter  of  Tobit,  '  And  fear  not,  my  son  ! 
that  we  are  made  poor :  for  thou  hast  much 
wealth,  if  thou  fear  God,  and  depart  from  all 
sin  and  do  that  which  is  pleasing  in  His  sight.' 
Indeed,  if  I  live  in  cities,  my  children  (if  it 
please  the  All-good  to  preserve  the  one  I  have, 
and  to  give  me  more),  my  children,  I  say,  will 
necessarily  become  acquainted  with  politicians 
and  politics — a.  set  of  men  and  a  kind  of 
study  which  I  deem  highly  unfavourable  to  all 
Christian  graces.  I  have  myself  erred  greatly 
in  this  respect ;  but,  I  trust,  I  have  now  seen 
my  error.  I  have  accordingly  snapped  my 
squeaking  baby-trumpet  of  sedition,  and  have 
hung  up  its  fragments  in  the  chamber  of  Peni- 
tences.^ 

"Your   son  and  I  are  happy  in  our  con- 

*  Coleridge  was  so  taken  with  this  trope  that  he  repeated  it  in  a 
letter  to  George  Coleridge  some  eighteen  months  after  ("  Letters,"  I., 
p.  243)  : — "  But  I  have  snapped  my  squeaking  baby-trumpet  of  sedi- 
tion, and  the  fragments  lie  scattered  in  the  lumber-room  of  penitence." 

37 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

nection — our  opinions  and  feelings  are  as  nearly- 
alike  as  we  can  expect :  and  I  rely  upon  the 
goodness  of  the  All-good  that  we  shall  proceed 
to  make  each  other  better  and  wiser.  Charles 
Lloyd  is  greatly  averse  from  the  common  run 
of  society — and  so  am  I — but  in  a  city  I 
could  scarcely  avoid  it.  And  this,  too,  has 
aided  my  decision  in  favour  of  my  rustic 
scheme.  We  shall  reside  near  a  very  dear 
friend  of  mine,  a  man  versed  from  childhood 
in  the  toils  of  the  Garden  and  the  Field,  and 
from  whom  I  shall  receive  every  addition  to 
my  comfort  which  an  earthly  friend  and  ad- 
viser can  give. 

"  My  Wife  requests  to  be  remembered  to 
you,  if  the  word  '  remember'  can  be  properly 
used.  You  will  mention  my  respects  to  your 
Wife  and  your  children,  and  believe  that  I  am 
with  no  mean  esteem  and  regard 
"  Your  Friend, 

"  S.  T.  Coleridge. 

"Saturday,  15th  Oct.,  1796." 

Coleridge,  who  at  this  time,  it  is  instructive 
to  note,  was  not  quite  twenty-four,  wrote  from 
Kingsdown,  Bristol,  where  he  then  lived.    The 

38 


COLERIDGE   AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

cottage  glanced  at  was  Nether  Stowey,  and 
the  friend  was  Thomas  Poole,  who  dwelt  in 
that  village. 

Although  the  suggestion  of  this  letter  is 
that  Coleridge  meant  to  give  much  time  to 
Charles  Lloyd,  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that 
under  any  conditions  he  would  have  been  a 
satisfactory  "  coach."  Especially  at  that  period 
was  he  unfit  for  such  drudgery :  his  brain  was 
busy  with  a  thousand  projects ;  he  was  un- 
settled ;  he  was  poor ;  the  arrival  of  David 
Hartley  Coleridge  had  disorganised  the  house ; 
and  by  constitution  he  detested  the  regular 
habits  which  a  good  instructor  must  observe. 
But  we  may  suppose  that  the  two  men  had 
continuous,  if  unsystematic,  intercourse.  Lloyd, 
whose  mind  was  always  acute,  was  even  able 
now  and  then  to  help  his  master :  "  It  is 
strange,"  wrote  Coleridge  to  Poole,  "that  in 
the  sonnet  to  Schiller  I  should  have  written, 
'that  hour  I  would  have  wished  to  die — Lest 
aught  more  mean  might  stamp  me  mortal;^ 
the  bull  never  struck  me  until  Charles  Lloyd 
mentioned  it." 

By  Coleridge's  conversation,  on  the  other 
hand,  Lloyd  was  stimulated — though  stimula- 

39 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

tion  of  this  kind  was  at  that  period  ever  present 
with  him — to  write  more  poetry.  While  at 
Bristol  he  prepared  a  handsome  folio  in  memory 
of  his  grandmother,  entitled  "  Poems  on  the 
Death  of  Priscilla  Farmer,"  for  which  Coleridge 
wrote  the  introductory  sonnet,  beginning 

The  piteous  sobs  that  choke  the  virgin's  breath, 

and  to  which  Charles  Lamb  contributed  "  The 
Grandam."  "  The  following  beautiful  frag- 
ment," wrote  Lloyd,  by  way  of  introduction  to 
it,  "  was  written  by  Charles  Lamb,  of  the  India 
House.  Its  subject  being  the  same  with  that 
of  my  Poems,  I  was  solicitous  to  have  it 
printed  with  them :  and  I  am  indebted  to  a 
Friend  of  the  Author's  for  the  permission." 
"  I  can  but  notice,"  Lamb  wrote,  on  receiving 
a  copy  of  the  book,  "  the  odd  coincidence  of 
two  young  men,  in  one  age,  carolling  their 
grandmothers."  And  again,  referring  to  the 
splendour  of  the  volume,  "  I  cannot  but  smile 
to  see  my  granny  so  gaily  decked  forth." 
Lloyd's  sonnets  were  marked  by  very  strong 
affection,  but  otherwise  were  not  conspicuous. 

The  date  of  Lamb's   first  letter  to  Charles 
40 


COLERIDGE   AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

Lloyd  cannot  be  given,  but  the  first  mention 
of  Lloyd's  name  in  Lamb's  letters  to  Coleridge 
occurs  on  October  24,  1 796.  "  My  kind  re- 
membrances to  Lloyd,"  he  wrote ;  and  hence- 
forward, for  some  months,  the  three  men  had 
common  interests. 

Another  poem  written  at  this  time  by  Cole- 
ridge, for  his  young  friend's  benefit,  was  the 
remonstrance  entitled  "  Lines  addressed  to  a 
young  man  of  fortune  who  abandoned  himself 
to  an  indolent  and  causeless  melancholy,"  in 
which  Lloyd  was  adjured  to  cease  self-pity, 
and,  rather,  to 

Seek  some  widow^s  grave ;  whose  dearer  part 

Was  slaughter'd,  where  o'er  his  uncofEned  limbs 

The   flocking    flesh-birds    scream'd !      Then,  while    thy 
heart 
Groans,  and  thine  eye  a  fiercer  sorrow  dims. 

Know  (and  the  truth  shall  kindle  thy  young  mind) 

What  Nature  makes  thee  mourn,  she  bids  thee  heal !  ' 

The  attack  of  melancholy  that  was  meant  may 
have  been  the  precursor  of  the  illness  which 


'  Mr.  E.  H.  Coleridge  suggests  that  possibly  this  stern  admonition 
was  first  levelled  by  Coleridge  against  himself  and  afterwards  trans- 
ferred to  Lloyd. 

41 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

prostrated  Lloyd  in  November,  1796.  The 
following  letter  from  Coleridge  to  Mr.  Lloyd, 
in  answer  to  one  that  is  missing,  tells  the  story. 
It  also  tells  much  that  is  interesting  of  Cole- 
ridge's own  programme  at  that  period  : — 

"Dear  Sir, — I  received  your  letter,  and  thank 
you  for  that  interest  which  you  take  in  my 
welfare.  The  reasons  which  you  urge  against 
my  present  plan  are  mostly  well-founded ;  but 
they  would  apply  equally  against  any  other 
scheme  of  life  which  my  Conscience  would 
permit  me  to  adopt.  I  might  have  a  situation 
as  a  Unitarian  minister,  I  might  have  lucrative 
offices  as  an  active  Politician ;  but  on  both  of 
these  the  Voice  within  puts  a  firm  and  un- 
wavering negative.  Nothing  remains  for  me 
but  schoolmastership  in  a  large  town  or  my 
present  plan.  To  the  success  of  both,  and 
indeed  even  to  my  subsisting  in  either,  health 
and  the  possession  of  my  faculties  are  necessary 
Requisites.  While  I  possess  these  Requisites, 
/  know^  I  can  maintain  myself  and  family  in 
the  COUNTRY ;  the  task  of  educating  children 
suits  not  the  activity  of  my   mind,  and  the 

anxieties  and  confinement  incident  to  it,  added 

42 


COLERIDGE  AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

to  the  living  in  a  town  or  city,  would  to  a 
moral  certainty  ruin  that  Health  and  those 
faculties  which,  as  I  said  before,  are  necessary 
to  my  gaining  my  livelihood  in  any  way.  Un- 
doubtedly, without  fortune,  or  trade,  or  profes- 
sion it  is  impossible  that  I  should  be  in  any 
situation  in  which  I  must  not  be  dependent  on 
my  own  health  and  exertions  for  the  bread  of 
my  family.  I  do  not  regret  it — it  will  make 
me  feel  my  dependence  on  the  Almighty,  and 
it  will  prevent  my  affections  from  being  made 
earthly  altogether.  I  praise  God  in  all  things, 
and  feel  that  to  His  grace  alone  it  is  owing 
that  I  am  enabled  to  praise  Him  in  all  things. 
You  think  my  scheme  monastic  rather  than 
Christian.  Can  he  be  deemed  monastic  who 
is  married,  and  employed  in  rearing  his  chil- 
dren ? — who  -personally  preaches  the  truth  to  his 
friends  and  neighbours,  and  who  endeavours 
to  instruct  tho'  Absent  by  the  Press  *?  In  what 
line  of  Life  could  I  be  more  actively  employed  ? 
and  what  titles,  that  are  dear  and  venerable,  are 
there  which  I  shall  not  possess,  God  permit  my 
present  resolutions  to  be  realised  *?  Shall  I  not 
be  an  Agriculturist,  an  Husband,  a  Father,  and 
a  Friest  after  the  order  of  Peace  ?  an  hireless 
43 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Priest  ?  '  Christianity  teaches  us  to  let  our 
lights  shine  before  men.'  It  does  so — but  it 
likewise  bids  us  say,  Our  Father,  lead  us  not 
[into]  temptation  I  which  how  can  he  say 
with  a  safe  conscience  who  voluntarily  places 
himself  in  those  circumstances  in  which,  if  he 
believe  Christ,  he  must  acknowledge  that  it 
would  be  easier  for  a  Camel  to  go  thro*  the  eye 
of  a  needle  than  for  him  to  enter  into  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  *?  Does  not  that  man 
mock  God  who  daily  prays  against  temptations, 
yet  daily  places  himself  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  formidable  *?  I  meant  to  have  written  a 
few  lines  only  respecting  myself,  because  I 
have  much  and  weighty  matter  to  write  con- 
cerning my  friend,  Charles  Lloyd ;  but  I  have 
been  seduced  into  many  words  from  the  im- 
portance of  the  general  truths  on  which  I  build 
my  conduct. 

"  While  your  Son  remains  with  me,  he  will, 
of  course,  be  acquiring  that  knowledge  and 
those  powers  of  Intellect  which  are  necessary 
as  iht  foundation  of  excellence  in  all  profes- 
sions, rather  than  the  immediate  science  of  any. 
Languages  will  engross  one  or  two  hours  in 
every  day :  the  elements  of  Chemistry,  Geome- 

44 


COLERIDGE   AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

try,  Mechanics,  and  Optics  the  remaining  hours 
of  study.  After  tolerable  proficiency  in  these, 
we  shall  proceed  to  the  study  of  Man  and  of 
Men — I  mean,  Metaphysics  and  History — and 
finally,  to  a  thorough  examination  of  the  Jew- 
ish and  Christian  Dispensations,  their  doctrines 
and  evidences :  an  examination  necessary  for 
all  men,  but  peculiarly  so  to  your  son,  if  he 
be  destined  for  a  medical  man.  A  Physician 
who  should  be  even  a  Theist,  still  more  a 
Christian^  would  be  a  rarity  indeed.  I  do  not 
know  one — and  I  know  a  great  many  Physi- 
cians. They  are  shallow  Animals  :  having  al- 
ways employed  their  minds  about  Body  and 
Gut,  they  imagine  that  in  the  whole  system  of 
things  there  is  nothing  but  Gut  and  Body." 

[Here  followed  an  account  of  Charles 
Lloyd's  health,  which  was  just  then,  said 
Coleridge,  so  "unsatisfactory"  as  to  shut  out 
anything  but  amusement.  In  his  anxiety, 
Coleridge  called  in  Dr.  Beddoes,  the  father  of 
Thomas  Lovell  Beddoes,  the  poet,  and  a  man 
of  eminence  in  his  profession :  "  I  chose  Dr. 
Beddoes,"  Coleridge  explained,  "  because  he  is 
a  philosopher^  and  the  knowledge  of  mind  is 
essentially  requisite  in  order  to  the  well-treating 

45 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

of  your  Son's  distemper."  After  quoting  Dr. 
Beddoes's  remarks  Coleridge  continued  :  "  Such 
is  Dr.  Beddoes's  written  opinion.  But  he  told 
me,  that  your  Son's  cure  must  be  effected  by 
Sympathy  and  Calmness — by  being  in  com- 
pany with  some  one  before  whom  he  thought 
aloud  on  all  subjects,  and  by  being  in  situations 
perfectly  according  with  the  tenderness  of  his 
Disposition."  Other  remarks  concerning  diet 
and  such  matters  followed,  and  the  letter  closed 
thus]  : — 

"  I  hope  your  Health  is  confirmed,  and  that 
your  Wife  and  children  are  well.  Present  my 
well-wishes.  You  are  blessed  with  children 
who  are  pure  in  Heart — add  to  this  Health, 
Competence,  Social  Affections,  and  Employ- 
ment, and  you  have  a  complete  idea  of  Human 
Happiness. 

"  Believe  me, 
"  With  esteem  and  friendly-heartedness, 
"  Your  obliged 

"  S.  T.  Coleridge. 
"Monday,  November  14th  [1796]." 

It  is  not  surprising,  with  Charles  Lloyd  in 

such  a  state  and  his  own  movements  so  im- 

46 


COLERIDGE   AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

peded — as  his  letters  to  Thomas  Poole  tell  us 
that  they  then  were — by  domestic  responsi- 
bilities and  want  of  money,  that  Coleridge 
should  wish  to  free  himself  from  his  undertak- 
ing with  regard  to  his  disciple.  Hence  Mr. 
Lloyd  must  have  been  more  or  less  prepared 
for  the  letter — dated  December  4,  1796 — that 
follows : — 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  think  it  my  duty  to  acquaint 
you  with  the  nature  of  my  connection  with 
your  Son.  If  he  be  to  stay  with  me,  I  can 
neither  be  his  tutor  or  fellow-student,  nor  in 
any  way  impart  a  regular  system  of  knowledge. 
My  days  I  shall  devote  to  the  acquirement  of 
practical  husbandry  and  horticulture,  that  as  '  to 
beg  I  am  ashamed,'  I  may  at  least  be  able  *  to 
dig :'  and  my  evenings  will  be  fully  employed 
in  fulfilling  my  engagements  with  the  '  Critical 
Review'  and  'New  Monthly  Magazine.'  If, 
therefore,  your  Son  occupy  a  room  in  my  cot- 
tage, he  will  be  there  merely  as  a  Lodger  and 
Friend;  and  the  only  money  I  shall  receive 
from  him  will  be  the  sum  which  his  board  and 
lodging  will  cost  me,  and  which,  by  an  accurate 
calculation,  I  find  will  amount  to  half  a  guinea 
47 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

a  week,  exclusive  of  his  washing,  porter,  cyder, 
spirits,  in  short  any  potation  beyond  table- 
beer — these  he  must  provide  himself  with.  I 
shall  keep  no  servant. 

"  I  must  add  that  Charles  Lloyd  must  furnish 
his  own  bedroom.  It  is  not  in  my  power  to 
do  it  myself  without  running  into  debt ;  from 
which  may  Heaven  amid  its  most  angry  dis- 
pensations preserve  me  I 

"  When  I  mentioned  the  circumstances  which 
rendered  my  literary  engagement  impracticable, 
when,  I  say,  I  first  mentioned  them  to  Charles 
Lloyd,  and  described  the  severe  process  of 
simplification  which  I  had  determined  to  adopt, 
I  never  dreamt  that  he  would  have  desired  to 
continue  with  me  :  and  when  at  length  he  did 
manifest  such  a  desire,  I  dissuaded  him  from  it. 
But  his  feelings  became  vehement,  and  in  the 
present  state  of  his  health  it  would  have  been 
as  little  prudent  as  humane  in  me  to  have  given 
an  absolute  refusal. 

"  Will   you   permit   me.  Sir !   to   write    of 

Charles  Lloyd  with  freedom  ?     I  do  not  think 

he  ever  will  endure,  whatever  might    be   the 

consequences,  to   practise   as   a  physician,  or 

to    undertake    any    commercial    employment. 

48 


COLERIDGE   AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

What  weight  your  authority  might  have,  I 
know  not :  I  doubt  not  he  would  struggle  to 
submit  to  it — but  would  he  succeed  in  any 
attempt  to  which  his  temper,  feelings,  and 
principles  are  inimical?  .  .  .  What  then 
remains'?  I  know  of  nothing  but  agricul- 
ture. If  his  attachment  to  it  should  prove 
permanent,  and  he  really  acquired  the  steady 
dispositions  of  a  practical  farmer,  I  think 
you  could  wish  nothing  better  for  him  than 
to  see  him  married,  and  settled  near  you  as 
a  farmer.  I  love  him,  and  do  not  think  he 
will  be  well  or  happy  till  he  is  married  and 
settled. 

''  I  have  written  plainly  and  decisively,  my 
dear  Sir !  I  wish  to  avoid  not  only  evil,  but 
the  appearances  of  evil.  This  is  a  world  of 
calumnies !  Yea  !  there  is  an  imposthume  in 
the  large  tongue  of  this  world  ever  ready  to 
break,  and  it  is  well  to  prevent  the  contents 
from  being  sputtered  into  one's  face.  My 
Wife  thanks  you  for  your  kind  inquiries  re- 
specting her.  She  and  our  Infant  are  well — 
only  the  latter  has  met  with  a  little  accident — 
a  burn  which  is  doing  well. 

"  To  Mrs.  Lloyd  and  all  your  children  pre- 

4  49 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

sent  my  remembrances,  and  believe  me  in  all 
esteem  and  friendliness, 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

"  S.  T.  Coleridge.* 
•*  Sunday,  December  4,  1796." 

It  was  settled  as  Charles  Lloyed  wished. 
He  then  left  Bristol  to  spend  Christmas  at 
home,  and  the  Coleridges  prepared  to  move  to 
Nether  Stowey,  a  transit  which  was  accom- 
plished on  the  last  day  of  1796. 

*  To  this  letter  Mr.  Lloyd  seems  to  have  returned  the  question, 
How  could  Coleridge  live  without  companions  ?  The  answer  came 
quickly,  as  we  learn  from  a  letter  from  Coleridge  to  Poole  ("  Letters," 
i.  p.  186)  in  which  he  mentions  Mr.  Lloyd's  query  and  quotes  his  own 
characteristic  reply  :  "  I  shall  have  six  companions  :  My  Sara,  my 
babe,  my  own  shaping  and  disquisitive  mind,  my  books,  my  beloved 
friend  Thomas  Poole,  and  lastly.  Nature  looking  at  me  with  a  thou- 
sand looks  of  beauty,  and  speaking  to  me  in  a  thousand  melodies  of 
love.  If  I  were  capable  of  being  tired  with  all  these,  I  should  then 
detect  a  vice  in  my  nature,  and  would  fly  to  habitual  solitude  to  eradi" 
cate  it."  Coleridge's  letter  to  Mr.  Lloyd,  containing  this  passage, 
seems  to  have  been  lost. 


50 


Ill 

COLERIDGE,   LAMB,    AND   CHARLES   LLOYD 

*797 

Charles  Lloyd  first  met  Lamb  in  January, 
1 797.  Quite  unexpectedly,  while  Coleridge  and 
his  family  were  settling  into  the  Stowey  cottage, 
he  visited  Lamb  in  London.  Lamb  was  im- 
pressed by  him.  "  I  will  not  tell  you  what  I 
think  of  Lloyd,"  he  wrote  to  Coleridge,  "  for 
he  may  by  chance  come  to  see  this  letter,  and 
that  thought  puts  a  restraint  on  me ;"  but  there 
is  no  doubt  but  that  Lamb  was  prepared  for 
eulogy.  A  few  days  later,  in  another  letter  to 
Coleridge,  Lamb  wrote : — "  The  emotions  I 
felt  on  his  coming  so  unlocked  for,  are  not  ill- 
expressed  in  what  follows,  and  what  (if  you  do 
not  object  to  them  as  too  personal,  and  to  the 
world  obscure,  or  otherwise  wanting  in  worth) 
I  should  wish  to  make  a  part  of  our  little 
volume."  The  little  volume  was  the  joint 
collection  of  their  poems  which  Coleridge 
and  Lamb  were  then  projecting,  and  Lamb's 
51 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND  THE  LLOYDS 

verses  on  Lloyd,  which  duly  found  a  place  In 
that  book,  ran  thus : — 

TO     CHARLES     LLOYD,    AN    UNEXPECTED 
VISITOR. 

Alone,  obscure,  without  a  friend. 

A  cheerless,  solitary  thing. 
Why  seeks  my  Lloyd  the  stranger  out  ? 

What  offering  can  the  stranger  bring  ? 

Of  social  scenes,  home-bred  delights. 
That  him  in  ought  compensate  may 

For  Stowey's  pleasant  winter  nights. 
For  loves  and  friendships  far  away. 

For  brief  oblivion  to  forego 

Friends,  such  as  thine,  so  justly  dear« 

And  be  awhile  with  me,  content 
To  stay,  a  kindly  loiterer,  here  ? 

For  this  a  gleam  of  random  joy 

Hath  flush'd  my  unaccustomed  cheek ; 

And,  with  an  o'er-charged  bursting  heart, 
I  feel  the  thanks  I  cannot  speak. 

O  !  sweet  are  all  the  Muse's  lays. 

And  sweet  the  charm  of  matin  bird — 

*Twas  long,  since  these  estranged  ears 
The  sweeter  voice  of  friend  had  heard. 
52 


COLERIDGE,  LAMB,  AND  CHARLES  LLOYD 

The  voice  hath  spoke  :  the  pleasant  sounds. 

In  memory's  ear,  in  after  time. 
Shall  tide,  to  sometimes  rouse  a  tear. 

And  sometimes  prompt  an  honest  rhyme. 

For  when  the  transient  charm  is  fled. 
And  when  the  little  week  is  o'er. 

To  cheerless,  friendless  solitude 
When  I  return,  as  heretofore — 

Long,  long,  within  my  aching  heart 
The  grateful  sense  shall  cherished  be ; 

I'll  think  less  meanly  of  myself. 

That  Lloyd  will  sometimes  think  on  me. 

Charles  Lloyd  was  not  a  Coleridge,  yet  at 
that  time  Lamb  must  have  found  peculiar 
pleasure  and  solace  in  his  company.  Lamb, 
who  was  much  in  the  shadow  of  the  tragedy 
of  the  year  before,  needed  a  mind  as  serious 
and  sympathetic  as  Charles  Lloyd's,  and  their 
nearness  in  age — only  two  days  separated  them  : 
both  would  be  two-and-twenty  in  the  following 
month — was  an  additional  bond.  Lloyd's 
spiritual  life,  in  spite  of  his  youth,  had  been 
fully  lived,  and  though  he  lacked  nimbleness, 
flexibility,  fun,  he  was  possessed  of  rare  intel- 
lectual gifts,  which  at  that  time  were  more  to 
53 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Lamb's  taste  than  humourous  quickness.  It  is 
probable  that  the  two  friends  spoke  more  of 
conduct  than  of  Hterature. 

Lloyd  rejoined  Coleridge  at  Stowey  early 
in  February,  1797.  Writing  to  his  brother 
Robert,  on  March  2,  he  said,  by  way  of  excuse 
for  not  having  written  sooner :  "  At  Stowey 
(where  I  have  now  been  nearly  three  weeks)  I 
have  not  been  settled  till  yesterday  week — 
having  had  my  rooms  to  furnish,  so  that  I  only 
began  to  lodge  at  Coleridge's  a  week  ago ;  in 
the  meantime  I  was  visiting  at  Mr.  Poole's,  a 
friend  of  Coleridge."  Later  we  come  upon  a 
sentence  which  to  us,  who  accept  Lamb,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  as  one  of  the  great  intellects, 
has  an  odd  ring :  "  I  left  Charles  Lamb  very 
warmly  interested  in  his  favour,  and  have  kept 
up  a  regular  correspondence  with  him  ever 
since ;  he  is  a  most  interesting  young  man." 
It  is  sad  that  every  letter  in  this  correspond- 
ence has  vanished.  Saving  the  one  note,  dated 
1823,  from  Lamb  to  Lloyd,  in  Canon  Ainger's 
edition  of  the  "  Letters,"  not  a  line  remains. 
Charles  Lloyd,  however,  must  not  be  blamed. 
He  seems  carefully  to  have  preserved  all  letters. 
It  was  not  until  after  his  death,  when  his  son, 

54 


COLERIDGE,  LAMB,  AND  CHARLES  LLOYD 

Grosvenor  Lloyd,  came  to  examine  the  col- 
lection of  papers,  that  the  work  of  destruction 
set  in. 

Lamb  seems  to  have  met  Robert  during 
Charles's  January  visit  to  town,  for  in  the  same 
letter  from  which  quotations  have  just  been 
made,  Charles  said :  "  Charles  Lamb  desir'd  to 
be  remember'd  to  you  whenever  I  wrote.  He 
took  a  great  liking  to  you.  God  bless  you, 
and  preserve  you  virtuous  and  happy  I" 

Meanwhile  Lloyd  had  joined  the  poetical 
partnership  of  his  two  friends.  At  first  Cole- 
ridge and  Lamb  were  to  make  the  volume  be- 
tween them ;  but  when,  in  March,  1 797,  the 
printing  was  almost  complete,  Coleridge  wrote 
to  Cottle,  the  publisher,  saying  that  Charles 
Lloyd's  poems  were  to  be  included  too ;  adding, 
with  more  commercial  acumen  than  was  usual 
with  him,  "  Lloyd's  connections  will  take  off  a 
great  many  [copies],  more  than  a  hundred." 

A  very  little  while  later  Lloyd,  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  resumed  his  studies  with  Cole- 
ridge, in  spite  of  Coleridge's  statement  that 
such  studies  must  now  cease  (but  Coleridge's 
statements  were  rarely  absolute)  again  failed  in 
health.  The  references  to  him  in  Lamb's  let- 
55 


CHARLES    LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

ters  to  Coleridge  during  the  spring  of  1797  in- 
dicate that  regular  employment  had  become 
impossible.  Unsettlement  grew  upon  him,  and 
in  March  or  April  he  found  it  necessary  to 
leave  Stowey.  Thus  his  domestication  with 
Coleridge  ended.  "  You  will  pray  with  me,  I 
know,  for  his  recovery,"  wrote  Lamb,  "for 
surely,  Coleridge,  an  exquisiteness  of  feeling 
like  this  must  border  on  derangement.  But  I 
love  him  more  and  more." 

Early  in  June  the  volume  appeared: — "Poems 
by  S.  T.  Coleridge,  Second  Edition.  To  which 
are  added  Poems  by  Charles  Lamb  and  Charles 
Lloyd,"  the  title-page  bearing  the  following 
quotation  :  " '  Duplex  nobis  vinculum,  et  amici- 
tiffi  et  similium  junctarumque  Camcenarum ; 
quod  utinam  neque  mors  solvat  neque  tem- 
poris  longinquitas !'  GroscoU.  Epist.  ad  Car. 
Utenhov.  et  Ptol.  Lux.  Tast."  This  motto, 
an  invention  of  Coleridge's,  in  whose  brain 
Groscollius  had  his  only  being,  may  be  trans- 
lated freely :  "  Double  is  the  bond  which  binds 
us — friendship,  and  a  kindred  taste  in  poetry. 
Would  that  neither  death  nor  lapse  of  time 
could  dissolve  it  I"  To  our  eyes,  accustomed 
to  the  taste  which  publishers  now  lavish  on 

56 


COLERIDGE,  LAMB,  AND  CHARLES  LLOYD 

their  products,  the  book  is  a  homely  enough 
little  tome ;  but  Coleridge  thought  otherwise. 
"  The  volume  is  a  most  beautiful  one,"  he 
wrote  to  Cottle.  "  You  have  determined  that 
the  three  Bards  shall  walk  up  Parnassus  in  their 
best  bib  and  tucker." 

It  is  late  in  the  day  to  speak  critically  of 
this  book,  nor  is  this  the  place  in  which  to  do 
so.  Coleridge's  performances  in  the  few  years 
immediately  following  were  such  as  to  throw 
these  early  efforts  and  "  effusions"  into  ob- 
scurity, and  Lamb  and  Lloyd  were  wofully 
serious.  Lloyd,  especially,  paraded  his  grief; 
his  motto,  from  Bowles,  being : — 

I  wrap  me  in  the  mantle  of  distress. 
And  tell  my  poor  heart  this  is  happiness. 

Altogether,  considering  what  was  to  happen,  we 
must  look  upon  it  as  a  luckless  little  volume. 

In  June,  1797,  we  find  Thomas  Poole  writ- 
ing to  Lloyd  for  support  in  the  fund  he  was 
collecting  for  Coleridge ;  and  in  the  same 
month  Lloyd  had  sufficiently  recovered  to 
think  of  entertaining  Lamb  at  Birmingham. 
Lamb,  however,  could  not  accept  the  invita- 
tion ;  instead  he  paid  the  visit  to  Stowey  which 
57 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   THE   LLOYDS 

won  for  him  the  friendship  of  the  Words  worths 
(who  had  just  settled  at  Alfoxden),  and  led  to 
the  composition  of  Coleridge's  poem  "  This 
lime-tree  bower  my  prison."  Lloyd  was  not 
of  the  party.  Two  months  or  so  after  the 
Stowey  holiday  Lamb  was  able  to  leave  town 
again,  and  he  then  accompanied  Lloyd  on  a 
visit  to  Southey  at  Burton,  a  village  near  Christ- 
church,  in  Hampshire. 

Southey  was  then  just  twenty-three;  his 
"  Joan  of  Arc"  had  appeared  two  years  before, 
and  he  was  busily  composing  new  verses  and 
planning  the  "  Annual  Anthology"  for  Cottle. 
The  visit  was  the  beginning  of  a  steady  corre- 
spondence between  Lamb  and  Southey,  and 
possibly  between  Southey  and  Lloyd,  but  of 
that  we  have  no  record. 

In  September,  1797,  Lamb  sent  Coleridge 
his  touching  poem  on  the  anniversary  of  his 
mother's  death,  and  appended  to  it  some  lines 
suggested  by  Lloyd's  mental  distress : — "  The 
following  I  wrote  when  I  had  returned  from 
Charles  Lloyd,  leaving  him  behind  at  Burton, 
with  Southey."  To  understand  some  of  it  you 
must  remember  that  at  that  time  he  was  very 
much  perplexed  in  mind. 

58 


COLERIDGE,  LAMB,  AND  CHARLES  LLOYD 

A  stranger,  and  alone,  I  pass'd  those  scenes 

We  pass'd  so  late  together ;  and  my  heart 

Felt  something  like  desertion,  as  I  look'd 

Around  me,  and  the  pleasant  voice  of  friend 

Was  absent,  and  the  cordial  look  was  there 

No  more,  to  smile  on  me.     I  thought  on  Lloyd — 

All  he  had  been  to  me !     And  now  I  go 

Again  to  mingle  with  a  world  impure  ; 

With  men  who  make  a  mock  of  holy  things. 

Mistaken,  and  of  man's  best  hope  think  scorn. 

The  world  does  much  to  warp  the  heart  of  man ; 

And  I  may  sometimes  join  its  idiot  laugh  : 

Of  this  I  now  complain  not.     Deal  with  me. 

Omniscient  Father,  as  Thou  judgest  best. 

And  in  Thy  season  soften  Thou  my  heart. 

I  pray  not  for  myself.     I  pray  for  him 

Whose  soul  is  sore  perplexed.     Shine  Thou  on  him. 

Father  of  lights  !  and  in  the  difficult  paths 

Make  plain  his  way  before  him  :  his  own  thoughts 

May  he  not  think — his  own  ends  not  pursue — 

So  shall  he  best  perform  Thy  will  on  earth. 

Greatest  and  best.  Thy  will  be  ever  ours !" 

*'  You  use  Lloyd  very  ill,"  Lamb  added,  "  never 
writing  to  him.  I  tell  you  again  that  his  is 
not  a  mind  with  which  you  should  play  tricks. 
He  deserves  more  tenderness  from  you." 

At  the  end  of  the  same  month — September, 
1797 — in  a  letter  to  Robert,  Lloyd  wrote : — 

"  I  am  at  present  with  Southey  at  Bath.     My 

59 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

principles  and  feelings  remain  just  the  same  as 
when  you  saw  me  last.  I  shall  be  in  London 
during  the  winter,  and  shall  hope  by  some 
means  or  other  to  meet  you  there,  or  half  way 
between  London  and  Walden.  Lamb  often 
talks  of  you.  I  wish  you  would  order  from 
London  (they  are  sold  at  Robinson's,  London) 
a  new  edition  of  Coleridge's  '  Poems' — it  con- 
tains all  mine  and  his,  and  is  just  come  out. 
What  are  you  reading"?  Do  write  soon.  I 
have  been  very  ill  since  I  last  saw  you,  very  ill 
indeed,  so  that  I  thought  I  never  should  re- 
cover ;  but,  thank  God,  I  am  now  perfectly  well." 
The  fact  of  his  recovery  is  thus  sufficiently 
demonstrated.  From  this  date — September, 
1797 — until  the  following  year,  we  lose  sight 
of  Charles  Lloyd.  All  that  is  known  is  that 
he  did  not  again  live  with  Coleridge,  but  pro- 
ceeded from  Bath,  probably  by  way  of  Bir- 
mingham, to  London.  Whether  any  cause 
but  ill  health  had  determined  him  not  to  re- 
turn to  Stowey  cannot  be  said.  Possibly  his 
friendship  with  Southey  may  have  been  an 
anti-Coleridgean  influence,  for  the  brothers-in- 
law  were  not  on  the  best  terms  ;  possibly  other 

forces  were  in  operation. 

60 


COLERIDGE,  LAMB,  AND  CHARLES  LLOYD 

But  whatsoever  the  reason,  it  is  clear  that  a 
coolness  was  growing,  and  from  it  probably 
came  Coleridge's  impulse  to  write  the  parody 
of  himself  and  his  friends'  poetical  mannerisms 
which  belong  to  this  period.  The  skit  took 
the  form  of  three  "  Sonnets  in  the  Manner  of 
Contemporary  Writers,"  signed  "Nehemiah 
Higginbottom,"  which  appeared  in  the  Monthly 
Magazine  for  November,  1797.  In  a  letter  to 
Cottle,  Coleridge  explained  their  purpose : — 

"  I  sent  to  the  Monthly  Magazine  three  mock 
Sonnets  in  ridicule  of  my  own  Poems,  and 
Charles  Lloyd's,  and  Charles  Lamb's,  &c., 
&c.,  exposing  that  affectation  of  unaffected- 
ness,  of  jumping  and  misplaced  accent,  in  com- 
monplace epithets,  flat  lines  forced  into  poetry 
by  italics  (signifying  how  well  and  mouthishly 
the  author  would  read  them),  puny  pathos^ 
&c.,  &c.  The  instances  were  all  taken  from 
myself  and  Lloyd  and  Lamb.  I  signed  them 
*  Nehemiah  Higginbottom.'  I  think  they  may 
do  good  to  our  young  Bards." 

Here  are  two  of  the  "  lessons :" — 


Pensive  at  eve  on  the  hard  world  I  mus'd. 
And  my  poor  heart  was  sad ;  so  at  the  moon 
61 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

I  gaz'd — and  sigh'd  and  sigh'd  ! — for  ah !  how  soon 
Eve  darkens  into  night.     Mine  eye  perus'd 
With  tearful  vacancy  the  dampy  grass 
Which  wept  and  glitter'd  in  the  paly  ray ; 
And  I  did  pause  me  on  my  lonely  way. 
And  mused  me  on  those  wretched  ones  who  pass 
O'er  the  black  heath  of  Sorrow.     But,  alas  ! 
Most  of  Myself  I  thought  :  when  it  befell 
That  the  sooth  spirit  of  the  breezy  wood 
Breath'd  in  mine  ear — "All  this  is  very  well; 
But  much  of  one  thing  is  for  no  thing  good." 
Ah  !  my  poor  heart's  inexplicable  swell ! 

TO  SIMPLICITY. 

0  !  I  do  love  thee,  meek  Simplicity  ! 
For  of  thy  lays  the  lulling  simpleness 

Goes  to  my  heart  and  soothes  each  small  distress 
Distress  though  small,  yet  haply  great  to  me ! 
'  Tis  true  on  Lady  Fortune's  gentlest  pad 

1  amble  on;  yet,  though  I  know  not  why. 
So  sad  I  am ! — but  should  a  friend  and  I 
Grow  cool  and  miff,  O  !  I  am  very  sad  ! 
And  then  with  sonnets  and  with  sympathy 
My  dreamy  bosom's  mystic  woes  I  pall ; 
Now  of  my  false  friend  plaining  plaintively. 
Now  raving  at  mankind  in  general  ; 

But,  whether  sad  or  fierce,  'tis  simple  all. 
All  very  simple,  meek  Simplicity  ! ' 

'  One  unforeseen  result  of  the  skit  was  Southey's  determination  to 
take  the  sonnet  "To  Simplicity"  as  an  attack  on  himself. 

62 


COLERIDGE,  LAMB,  AND  CHARLES  LLOYD 

Lamb  probably  only  laughed,  but  Lloyd  was 
made  of  different  stuff.  He  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  and  as  Coleridge  perfectly  well  knew, 
a  sensitive,  affectionate,  unworldly  creature, 
destitute  of  fun  and  rich  in  ideals,  who  could 
ill  understand  an  old  friend  and  erstwhile  spir- 
itual guide  making  a  public  mock  of  him  and 
the  poetry  that  had  cost  so  much  dear  effort, 
and  in  which,  however  tamely,  he  had  tried 
to  give  an  expression  of  his  best  self.  Ridi- 
cule is  a  medicine  to  be  prescribed  with  great 
care:  Lloyd  certainly  was  not  suited  to  take 
it.  There  can  be  no  question  that  for  the  dis- 
sension which  1 798  was  to  bring  forth,  Nehe- 
miah  Higginbottom  was  much  to  blame. 


63 


IV 

"  EDMUND    OLIVER  "    AND   THE    "  THESES  " 
1798 

In  London,  Charles  Lloyd  shared  lodgings 
with  James  White,  schoolfellow  of  Lamb, 
friend  of  chimney-sweepers,  and  the  author  of 
"  Original  Letters,  &c.,  of  Sir  John  Falstaff " 
(1796).  "For  hearty,  joyous  humour,  tinged 
with  Shakespearian  fancy,"  says  Talfourd, 
"  White  was  held  by  Lamb  to  have  no  equal." 
"Among  his  intimates,"  says  Gutch,  a  school- 
fellow of  Lamb  and  White,  "  he  was  called 
*  Sir  John.'  "  The  picture  of  this  genial  neo- 
Elizabethan  presiding  over  a  free  supper  to 
chimney-sweepers  is  one  of  the  glories  of"  Elia." 
The  passage  is  a  commonplace,  yet  let  a  few 
sentences  lend  good  humour  to  this  book : — 

In  those  little  temporary  parlours  three  tables  were  spread 
with  napery,  not  so  fine  as  substantial,  and  at  every  board 
a  comely  hostess  presided  with  her  pan  of  hissing  sausage. 
The  nostrils  of  the  young  rogues  dilated  at  the  savour. 
James   White,  as  head  waiter,   had  charge  of  the  first 

64 


"EDMUND   OLIVER"  AND   THE  "THESES" 

table ;  and  myself,  with  our  trusty  companion  Bigod,  or- 
dinarily ministered  to  the  other  two.  There  was  clam- 
bering and  jostling,  you  may  be  sure,  who  should  get  at 
the  first  table — for  Rochester  in  his  maddest  days  could 
not  have  done  the  humours  of  the  scene  with  more  spirit 
than  my  friend.  After  some  general  expression  of  thanks 
for  the  honour  the  company  had  done  him,  his  inaugural 
ceremony  was  to  clasp  the  greasy  waist  of  old  dame  Ur- 
sula (the  fattest  of  the  three),  that  stood  frying  and  fret- 
ting, half  blessing,  half  cursing  "  the  gentleman,"  and 
imprint  upon  her  chaste  lips  a  tender  salute,  whereat  the 
universal  host  would  set  up  a  shout  that  tore  the  concave, 
while  hundreds  of  grinning  teeth  startled  the  night  with 
their  brightness.  O  it  was  a  pleasure  to  see  the  sable 
younkers  lick  in  the  unctuous  meat,  with  his  more 
unctuous  sayings — how  he  could  fit  the  tit-bits  to  the 
puny  mouths,  reserving  the  lengthier  links  for  the  seniors 
— how  he  would  intercept  a  morsel  even  in  the  jaws  of 
some  young  desperado,  declaring  it  "must  to  the  pan 
again  to  be  browned,  for  it  was  not  fit  for  a  gentleman's 
eating" — how  he  would  recommend  this  slice  of  white 
bread  or  that  piece  of  kissing-crust  to  a  tender  juvenile, 
advising  them  all  to  have  a  care  of  cracking  their  teeth, 
which  were  their  best  patrimony, — how  genteelly  he 
would  deal  about  the  small  ale,  as  if  it  were  wine,  nam- 
ing the  brewer,  and  protesting,  if  it  were  not  good,  he 
should  lose  their  custom  ;  with  a  special  recommendation 
to  wipe  the  lip  before  drinking.  Then  we  had  our  toasts 
— "  The  King,"—"  The  Cloth,"— which,  whether  they 
understood  or  not,  was  equally  diverting  and  flattering ; — 
and  for  a  crowning  sentiment,  which  never  failed,  "  May 
5  65 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

the  Brush  supersede  the  Laurel !"  All  these,  and  fifty 
other  fancies,  which  were  rather  felt  than  comprehended 
by  his  guests,  would  he  utter,  standing  upon  tables,  and 
prefacing  every  sentiment  with  a  "  Gentlemen,  give  me 
leave  to  propose  so-and-so,"  which  was  a  prodigious  com- 
fort to  those  young  orphans ;  every  now  and  then  stuffing 
into  his  mouth  (for  it  did  not  do  to  be  squeamish  on  these 
occasions)  indiscriminate  pieces  of  those  reeking  sausages, 
which  pleased  them  mightily,  and  was  the  savouriest  part, 
you  may  believe,  of  the  entertainment. 

'*  Golden  lads  and  lassies  must. 
As  chimney-sweepers,  come  to  dust." 

James  White  is  extinct,  and  with  him  these  suppers 
have  long  ceased.  He  carried  away  with  him  half  the 
fun  of  the  world  when  he  died — of  my  world  at  least. 

With  such  a  character,  then,  was  Lloyd  liv- 
ing at  the  end  of  1 797  and  beginning  of  1 798. 
"  No  two  men,"  as  Southey  said,  "  could  be 
imagined  more  unlike  each  other.  Lloyd  had 
no  drollery  in  his  nature ;  White  seemed  to 
have  nothing  else.  You  will  easily  understand 
how  Lamb  could  sympathise  with  both." 

It  was  during  Lloyd's  domestication  with 
James  White  that  the  first  signs  of  ill-feeling 
between  Lloyd  and  Lamb  were  visible.     In  the 

66 


"EDMUND   OLIVER"  AND   THE  "THESES" 

middle  of  January,  1 798,  Lamb  wrote  to  Cole- 
ridge : — 

"  I  had  well  nigh  quarrelled  with  Charles 
Lloyd  ;  and  for  no  other  reason,  I  believe,  than 
that  the  good  creature  did  all  he  could  to  make 
me  happy.  The  truth  is,  I  thought  he  tried  to 
force  my  mind  from  its  natural  and  proper 
bent.  He  continually  wished  me  to  be  from 
home ;  he  was  drawing  me  from  the  considera- 
tion of  my  poor  dear  Mary's  situation,  rather 
than  assisting  me  to  gain  a  proper  view  of  it 
with  religious  consolations.  I  wanted  to  be 
left  to  the  tendency  of  my  own  mind,  in  a  soli- 
tary state,  which,  in  times  past,  I  knew  had  led 
to  quietness  and  a  patient  bearing  of  the  yoke. 
He  was  hurt  that  I  was  not  more  constantly 
with  him ;  but  he  was  living  with  White,  a 
man  to  whom  I  had  never  been  accustomed  to 
impart  my  dearest  feelings^  tho'  from  long  habits 
of  friendliness,  and  many  a  social  and  good 
quality,  I  loved  him  very  much.  I  met  com- 
pany there  sometimes — indiscriminate  company. 
Any  society  almost,  when  I  am  in  affliction,  is 
sorely  painful  to  me.  I  seem  to  breathe  more 
freely,  to  think  more  collectedly,  to  feel  more 

properly  and  calmly,  when  alone.     All  these 
67 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

things  the  good  creature  did  with  the  kindest 
intentions  in  the  world,  but  they  produced  in 
me  nothing  but  soreness  and  discontent.  I 
became,  as  he  complained,  'jaundiced'  towards 
him  .  .  .  but  he  has  forgiven  me ;  and  his 
smile,  I  hope,  will  draw  all  such  humours  from 
me." 

If,  in  connection  with  this  letter.  Lamb's 
touching  elegiacs  "  The  Old  Familiar  Faces," 
composed  in  the  same  month,  are  re-considered, 
one  or  two  references  may  be  made  clear.  For 
many  years  the  fourth  stanza : 

I  have  a  friend,  a  kinder  friend  has  no  man : 
Like  an  ingrate,  I  left  my  friend  abruptly ; 
Left  him,  to  muse  on  the  old  familiar  faces — 

was  held  to  refer  to  Coleridge.  But  Canon 
Ainger,  in  the  notes  to  his  edition  of  Lamb's 
"  Letters,"  has  conclusively  shown  that  Lloyd 
was  meant ;  Coleridge  was  the  friend,  "  more 
than  a  brother,"  of  the  sixth  stanza. 

Yet  although  Lamb  and  Lloyd  were  again 
perfectly  reconciled,  and  were  busy  in  preparing 
their  joint  volume  of  "  Blank  Verse,"  in  which 
"  The  Old  Familiar  Faces"  was  first  printed, 
more  disaster  was  brewing.     The  story  of  the 

68 


"EDMUND   OLIVER"  AND   THE  "THESES" 

alienation  of  Coleridge  from  his  two  friends 
may  best  be  told  in  the  late  Mr.  Dykes  Camp- 
bell's words:  "In  March  [1798]  there  had 
been  talk  of  a  third  edition  of  Coleridge's 
'  Poems,'  and  on  hearing  of  it  Lloyd  begged 
Cottle  to  '  persuade'  Coleridge  to  omit  his. 
This  caused  Coleridge  to  reply,  smilingly 
["Letters,"  i.  p.  238],  that  no  persuasion  was 
needed  for  the  omission  of  verses  published  at 
the  earnest  request  of  the  author ;  and  that 
though  circumstances  had  made  the  Groscollian 
motto  now  look  ridiculous,  he  accepted  the 
punishment  of  his  folly,  closing  his  letter 
with  the  characteristically  sententious  reflection, 
'  By  past  experience  we  build  up  our  moral 
being.' " 

What  happened  after  that  is  not  clear,  but 
Coleridge  seems  to  have  found  in  Lloyd  cause 
for  grief  so  intense  that  it  led  him  to  retire  to 
the  "lonely  farmhouse  between  Porlock  and 
Linton,"  where,  to  allay  the  disturbance  of  his 
mind,  he  had  recourse  to  opium,  and  under  its 
dire  and  seductive  influence  composed  "  Kubla 
Khan."  (Coleridge  himself  assigns  an  earlier  date 
to  the  poem,  but  Mr.  Dykes  Campbell's  chron- 
ology is  more  trustworthy.)  The  poet  continued 

69 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE  LLOYDS 

to  brood  over  the  rupture  of  a  friendship  that 
had  begun  so  auspiciously.  In  the  middle  of 
May,  when  his  second  child  was  born,  we  find 
him,  in  writing  to  Poole  concerning  an  impend- 
ing bereavement,  telling  him  that  he  can  the 
better  sympathise  by  reason  of  sorrows  of  his 
own  that  have  "  cut  more  deeply"  into  his  heart 
"  than  they  ought  to  have  done ;"  which  Mr. 
Dykes  Campbell  considered  a  further  allusion 
to  Lloyd's  attitude,  and  to  the  fact  that  Lamb 
was  also  becoming  alienated. 

In  June,  1 798,  the  worthy  Cottle,  hoping  to 
patch  up  the  disagreement,  wrote  to  Lloyd 
urging  him  to  visit  Coleridge.  "I  cannot," 
was  Lloyd's  reply,  "  think  that  I  have  acted 
with,  or  from,  passion  towards  him.  Even  my 
solitary  night  thoughts  have  been  easy  and 
calm  when  they  have  dwelt  on  him.  ...  I 
love  Coleridge,  and  can  forget  all  that  has  hap- 
pened. At  present  I  could  not  well  go  to 
Stowey.  I  could  scarcely  excuse  so  sudden  a 
removal  from  my  parents.  Lamb  quitted  me 
yesterday,  after  a  fortnight's  visit.  I  have  been 
much  interested  in  his  society.  I  never  knew 
him   so    happy  in    my  life.     I  shall  write  to 

Coleridge  to-day." 

70 


"EDMUND   OLIVER"  AND   THE  "THESES" 

On  Coleridge's  side  there  was,  however,  more 
to  forgive  :  there  was  Lloyd's  novel  "  Edmund 
Oliver."  This  was  the  young  man's  crowning 
offence,  for  in  it  he  had  made  use  of  Coleridge's 
own  experiences  as  Private  Silas  Tomkyn 
Comberbach.  "  The  incidents,"  said  the  author 
in  his  preface,  "  relative  to  the  army  were  given 
me  by  an  intimate  friend,  who  was  himself  eye- 
witness to  one  of  them,  and  can  produce  testi- 
mony to  the  truth  of  the  other  two."  That 
Coleridge's  own  story,  told  to  Lloyd  at  his 
fireside,  had  been  drawn  upon,  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  Moreover,  the  novel  contained  other 
passages  which  Coleridge  was  quick  to  apply 
to  himself:  Edmund  Oliver's  love-fits  and  de- 
parture from  college  tallied  with  his  own  ex- 
perience ;  the  description  of  him  :  "  His  large 
glistening  eye — his  dark  eyebrows — there  was 
the  same  bend  in  the  shoulder  .  .  .  and  the 
dark  hair" — fitted  Coleridge  too  ;  and  this  piece 
of  self-revelation  in  which  Oliver  elsewhere  in- 
dulged was  painfully  applicable  to  the  poet : 
"  I  have  at  all  times  a  strange  dreaminess  about 
me,  which  makes  me  indifferent  to  the  future, 
if  I  can  by  any  means  fill  the  present  with  sen- 
sations.    With  that  dreaminess  I  have  gone  on 

71 


CHARLES    LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

here  from  day  to  day ;  if  at  any  time  thought 
troubled,  I  have  swallowed  some  spirits,  or  had 
recourse  to  my  laudanum."  Lloyd's  conduct 
was  indefensible,  and  Coleridge's  anger,  which 
was  excessive,  was  not  lessened  by  the  circum- 
stance that  the  novel  was  dedicated  to  Lamb 
and  published  by  Cottle.  The  book  itself, 
which  to-day  would  be  labelled  "  psychological 
romance,"  is  undeniably  clever,  although  often 
extremely  foolish.  As  a  record  of  the  emotions 
of  a  last  century  "  sensitive  plant"  it  is  remark- 
able. 

Coleridge,  it  may  be  noted  here,  was  not 
the  only  person  who  was  troubled  by  the  publi- 
cation of  "  Edmund  Oliver."  Mrs.  Lloyd 
wrote  thus  to  her  son  Robert  on  the  subject : — 

"I  am  sorry  thou  shouldst  have  inform'd 
her  [Mrs.  Day,  his  employer's  wife]  that  *E. 
Oliver'  was  published  with  our  '  approbation 
and  concurrence.'  We  were  never  consulted. 
For  my  own  part  I  did  not  comprehend  the 
nature  of  the  Book  till  I  saw  it ;  and  tho'  I 
fully  allow  there  are  some  fine  sentiments  in  it, 
thou  well  know'st  it  was  far  from  having  either 
thy  Father's  or  my  indiscriminate  approbation 
— nay,  I  am  sure  there  was  one  passage  that 

7* 


"EDMUND   OLIVER"  AND   THE  "THESES" 

wounded  me  to  the  quick,  and  thou  must  fre- 
quently have  heard  me  say  I  hoped  Charles 
would  never  be  a  Novel  writer ;  I  can  honestly 
say  I  should  rather  see  him  engaged  in  the 
most  humble  occupation  that  I  thought  con- 
sistent with  Christian  simplicity.  With  respect 
to  these  writings  in  general  I  most  sincerely 
concur  in  sentiment  with  S.  D.  [Mrs.  Day 
again],  and  wish  it  had  been  in  my  power  to 
keep  my  Family  as  clear  of  them  as  she  has 
done.  Till  I  am  convinc'd  that  the  Christian 
Religion  is  a  Fable,  I  shall  never  think  the  im- 
agination can  riot  in  the  delicious  luxury  of  sen- 
timent and  warm  descriptions  of  the  passions, 
and  the  Heart  remain  pure.  I  have  studied 
the  New  Testament  as  much  as  most,  but  have 
never  yet  discover'd,  with  the  philosophers  of 
the  present  day,  that  the  Christian  warfare  is 
accomplished  by  indulging  the  mind  in  every 
kind  of  dissipation  provided  we  keep  clear 
of  gross  vice.  If  this  be  the  case,  surely  He 
who  said  '  Strait  is  the  gate  and  narrow  is 
the  way,'  and  those  who  accounted  themselves 
as  '  Pilgrims  and  Strangers  on  the  Earth,'  were 
greatly  mistaken" 

"  Edmund  Oliver"  was  Lloyd's  unpardonable 
73 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

offence ;  and  hard  upon  it  came  Lamb's  scorn- 
ful "  Theses."  Coleridge  had  written,  presum- 
ably to  Lloyd,  "  Poor  Lamb,  if  he  wants  any 
knowledge  he  may  apply  to  me,"  and  the  pas- 
sage had  been  brought  to  Lamb's  notice.  He 
replied  with  a  sarcastic  letter  and  this  famous 
series  of  posers  : — 

THESES    gU^DAM    THEOLOGIC^. 

I. 

"  Whether  God  loves  a  lying  angel  better  than  a  true 
man  ?" 

II. 

*'  Whether  the  archangel  Uriel  could  knowingly  affirm 
an  untruth,  and  whether,  if  he  could,  he  would?'" 

III. 
"  Whether  honesty  be  an  angelic  virtue,  or  not  rather 
belonging  to  that  class  of  qualities  which   the  schoolmen 
term  *  virtutes  minus  splendidae  et  hominis  et  terras  nimis 
participes '  ?" 

IV. 

**  Whether  the  seraphim  ardentes  do  not  manifest  their 
goodness  by  the  way  of  vision  and  theory  ?  and  whether 
practice  be  not  a  sub-celestial  and  merely  human  virtue  ?'* 

V. 

"  Whether  the  higher  order  of  seraphim  illuminati 
ever  sneer  i" 

74 


"EDMUND   OLIVER"  AND   THE  "THESES" 

VI. 

"  Whether  pure  intelligences  can  love,  or  whether  they 
can  love  anything  besides  pure  intellect  ?" 

VII. 
"Whether  the  beatific  vision  be  anything  more  or  less 
than  a  perpetual  representment  to  each  individual  angel 
of  his  own  present  attainments,  and  future  capabilities, 
something  in  the  manner  of  mortal  looking-glasses  ?" 

VIII. 
"  Whether  an  '  immortal  and  amenable  soul'  may  not 
come  to  be  damned  at  last,  and  the  man  never  suspect  it  be- 
forehand?'' 

Coleridge,  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger, 
sent  Lamb's  letter  to  Cottle,  remarking  "  These 
young  visionaries  will  do  each  other  no  good," 
and  so  was  snapped  the  cord  binding  Coleridge 
and  Lamb. 

Coleridge  deeply  felt  the  disagreement.  In 
his  "  Letters"  (p.  249  and  onwards)  may  be 
found  a  copy  of  the  long  remonstrance  which 
he  addressed  to  Lamb  on  the  subject.  Mr. 
E.  H.  Coleridge  dates  it  in  the  spring  of  1 798  ; 
but  more  probably  the  time  was  the  summer, 
after  the  receipt  of  Lamb's  "  Theses."  For  our 
purpose  the  following  extract  is  sufficient : — 
75 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"Both  you  and  Lloyd  became  acquainted 
with  me  when  your  minds  were  far  from  being 
in  a  composed  or  natural  state,  and  you  clothed 
my  image  with  a  suit  of  notions  and  feelings 
which  could  belong  to  nothing  human.  You 
are  restored  to  comparative  saneness,  and  are 
merely  wondering  what  is  become  of  the  Cole- 
ridge with  whom  you  were  so  passionately  in 
love ;  Charles  Lloyd's  mind  has  only  changed 
his  disease,  and  he  is  now  arraying  his  ci-devant 
angel  in  a  flaming  San  Benito — the  whole 
ground  of  the  garment  a  dark  brimstone,  and 
plenty  of  little  devils  flourished  out  in  black. 
Oh,  me  I  Lamb,  '  even  in  laughter  the  heart  is 
sad.' " 

In  after  years  Lamb  threw  the  blame  of  the 

quarrel  on  Lloyd  ;  yet,  although,  as  has  been 

said,  "  Edmund  Oliver"  is  indefensible,  a  word 

must  be  said   for  its   author.     It   is  true  that 

Lloyd's  deplorable  habit  of  showing  scraps  of 

private    letters   to    the  very  person   above  all 

others  who   should  not   have  seen   them  was 

reprehensible  enough,  yet  Coleridge,  suspecting 

or  knowing  this  habit,  might  have  done  better 

than  to  entrust  to  Lloyd  remarks  concerning 

Lamb  which  he  did  not  wish  Lamb  to  see  ;  and 

76 


"EDMUND    OLIVER"  AND   THE  "THESES" 

Lamb  might  either  have  forbidden  Lloyd  to 
read  such  remarks,  or — coming  by  them  thus 
iUicitly — have  forgotten  them.  Lloyd,  as  far 
as  it  is  possible  to  estimate  his  character,  was 
a  clean-hearted,  unworldly  man,  innocent  of 
guile.  For  such  bad  habits  as  he  had,  shrewd 
and  humourous  intelligences  like  Coleridge  and 
Lamb  might  well  have  made  allowances.  But 
it  is  noticeable  how  often  the  sense  of  humour 
is  dulled  when  loss  of  personal  dignity  is  in- 
volved. 

Again,  say  what  one  can  for  or  against 
Lloyd,  there  is  no  doubt  that  without  his 
assistance  the  relations  between  Lamb  and 
Coleridge  were  inevitably  doomed  to  a  strain. 
When  we  remember  that  they  both  were  very 
young — in  1798  Coleridge  was  twenty-six  and 
Lamb  twenty-three — and  both  poets,  and  both 
free  critics  of  each  other's  work,  we  can  under- 
stand any  temporary  coolness  that  may  have 
arisen.  Such  quarrels  always  have  occurred 
between  young  poets,  and  probably  always  will. 
They  are  regrettable  to  some  extent ;  yet  "  by 
past  experience  the  moral  being  is  built  up," 
and  the  "  falling  out  of  faithful  friends  renew- 
ing is  of  love."  In  the  case  before  us  the 
77 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

love  of  both  men  was  renewed  and  intensified. 
Their  separation  lasted  only  until  the  end  of 
1799,  and  then  they  came  together  again,  and 
together  remained. 

Here,  as  a  fitting  close  to  a  chapter  too 
much  occupied  with  dissension,  Lamb's  dedi- 
cation to  Coleridge  of  the  first  collected  edition 
of  his  works — issued  in  1818 — may  well  be 
quoted : — 

It  would  be  a  kind  of  disloyalty^  to  offer  to  anyone  but 
yourself  a  volume  containing  the  early  pieces^  which  were 
first  published  among  your  poems,  and  were  fairly  deriva- 
tives from  you  and  them.  My  friend  Lloyd  and  myself 
came  into  our  first  battle  (authorship  is  a  sort  of  warfare) 
under  the  cover  of  the  greater  Ajax.  How  this  associa- 
tion, which  shall  always  be  a  dear  and  proud  recollection 
to  me,  came  to  be  broken — who  snapped  the  threefold 
cord, — whether  yourself  (but  I  know  that  was  not  the 
case)  grew  ashamed  of  your  former  companions, — or 
whether  (which  is  by  much  the  more  probable)  some  un- 
gracious bookseller  was  author  of  the  separation, — I  can- 
not tell ; — but  wanting  the  support  of  your  friendly  elm 
(I  speak  for  myself),  my  vine  has,  since  that  time,  put 
forth  few  or  no  fruits  ;  the  sap  (if  ever  it  had  any)  has 
become,  in  a  manner,  dried  up  and  extinct  |  and  you  will 
find  your  old  associate,  in  his  second  volume,  dwindled 
into  prose  and  criticism. 

Am  I  right  in  assuming  this  as  the  cause  ?  or  is  it  that, 
as  years  come  upon  us,  (except  with  some  more  healthy, 

78 


"EDMUND   OLIVER"  AND   THE  "THESES" 

happy  spirits,)  Life  itself  loses  much  of  its  Poetry  for 
us  ?  We  transcribe  but  what  we  read  in  the  great  volume 
of  Nature ;  and,  as  the  characters  grow  dim,  we  turn  off, 
and  look  another  way.  You  yourself  write  no  Christ- 
abels,  nor  Ancient  Mariners,  now. 

Some  of  the  Sonnets,  which  shall  be  carelessly  turned 
over  by  the  general  reader,  may  happily  awaken  in  you 
remembrances  which  I  should  be  sorry  should  be  ever 
totally  extinct — the  memory 

Of  summer  days  and  of  delightful  years — 

even  so  far  back  as  to  those  old  suppers  at  our  old  »  »  « 
******  Inn — when  life  was  fresh,  and  topics  ex- 
haustless, — and  you  first  kindled  in  me,  if  not  the  power, 
yet  the  love  of  poetry,  and  beauty,  and  kindliness — 

What  words  have  I  heard 
Spoke  at  the  Mermaid  ? 

The  world  has  given  you  many  a  shrewd  nip  and  gird 
since  that  time,  but  either  my  eyes  are  grown  dimmer,  or 
my  old  friend  is  the  same,  who  "  stood  before  me  three- 
and-twenty  year"  ago — his  hair  a  little  confessing  the  hand 
of  time,  but  still  shrouding  the  same  capacious  brain, — 
his  heart  not  altered,  scarcely  where  it  "  alteration  finds." 

That  is  the  true  and  permanent  part  of  Lamb 
speaking  to  the  true  and  permanent  part  of 
Coleridge.  And  from  the  fact  that  Lloyd  is 
mentioned  with  kindness  in  this  preface,  and 
the  inclusion  of  Lamb's  early  verses  to  him, 

79 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

we  may  imply  that  for  him  also  Lamb's  heart 
was  again  warm/ 

Lamb,  in  1818,  was  not  the  only  member 
of  that  company  of  three  whose  thoughts  were 
travelling  back  to  the  old  days.  Charles 
Lloyd,  who  at  that  time,  as  we  shall  see,  was 
just  on  the  brink  of  a  new  period  of  poetic 
activity,  was  beginning  his  longest  and  incom- 


*  Here  it  might  be  Interesting  to  quote  a  passage  from  a  letter  written 
by  Charles  Lloyd  to  Robert  Lloyd  some  ten  years  earlier  ; — 

"The  more  I  think  of  the  renewal  of  your  intercourse  with  C. 
Lamb,  the  more  I  am  pleased.  I  divide  the  quarrels  which  I  may 
have  chance  to  have  had  with  those  persons  with  whom  I  have  been 
acquainted  into  two  classes.  The  one  consists  of  those  quarrels  where 
a  mere  want  of  sympathy  on  a  given  transaction  has  led  to  miscon- 
ception, to  altercation,  to  passion,  to  separation  j  but  where  nothing 
has  occurred  to  lower  your  opinion  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  worth 
of  your  friend,*  of  this  character  has  been  my  refroidhsement  with 
C.  Lamb.  Indeed,  in  this  case  the  very  excess  of  tenaciousness  that 
led  him  to  be  offended  with  me  has  its  foundation  in  a  most  exalted 
quality,  disinterested,  and  almost  unexampled  attachment.  The  other 
class  of  quarrels  embraces  those  which  originate  in  the  detection  of 
meanness,  duplicity,  malevolence  on  the  part  of  your  former  acquaint- 
ance, now  converted  into  an  adversary.  These  quarrels  I  never  sur- 
mount— I  may  forgive  the  transactions  that  led  to  them,  but  I  can 
never,  ne-ver forget  them." 

*  To  the  word  accompanied  by  an  asterisk  the  note  is:  "Such  a 
man  is  a  generous  foe  whom  I  can  esteem — there  is  even  love  in  the 
quarrel  !'* 

By  way  of  postscript  Charles  Lloyd  adds :  "  If  you  do  write  to 
Lamb,  remember  me  to  him  and  his  sister."     This  was  in  1809. 

80 


"EDMUND   OLIVER"  AND   THE  "THESES" 

parably  best  poem,  "  Desultory  Thoughts  in 
London,"  in  which  he  paid  tributes  to  both  his 
old  associates.  It  is  at  the  present  stage  that 
quotations  will  most  fitly  come.  This  is  Cole- 
ridge :— 

How  shall  I  fitly  speak  on  such  a  theme  ? 

He  is  a  treasure  by  the  world  neglected, 
Because  he  hath  not  with  a  prescience  dim. 

Like  those  whose  every  aim  is  self-reflected, 
Pil'd  up  some  fastuous  trophy,  that  of  him 

Might  tell,  what  mighty  powers  the  age  rejected. 
But  taught  his  lips  the  office  of  a  pen — 
By  fools  he's  deem'd  a  being  lost  to  men. 

No  !  with  magnanimous  self-sacrifice. 

And  lofty  inadvertency  of  fame. 
He  felt  there  is  a  bliss  in  being  wise. 

Quite  independent  of  the  wise  man's  name. 
Who  now  can  say  how  many  a  soul  may  rise 

To  a  nobility  of  moral  aim 
It  ne'er  had  known,  but  for  that  spirit  brave. 
Which,  being  freely  gifted,  freely  gave  ? 

Sometimes  I  think  that  I'm  a  blossom  blighted ; 

But  this  I  ken,  that  should  it  not  prove  so. 
If  I  am  not  inexorably  spited 

Of  all  that  dignifies  mankind  below  j 
By  him  I  speak  of,  I  was  so  excited. 

While  reason's  scale  was  poising  to  and  fro, 
6  8i 


CHARLES   LAMB    AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"To  the  better  cause;"  that  him  I  have  to  bless 
For  that  which  it  is  comfort  to  possess. 

No !     Those  who  most  have  seen  me,  since  the  hour 
When  thou  and  I,  in  former  happier  days, 

Frank  converse  held,  though  many  an  adverse  power 
Have  sought  the  memory  of  those  times  to  raze. 

Can  vouch  that  more  it  stirs  me  (thus  a  tower. 
Sole  remnant  of  vast  castle,  still  betrays 

Haply  its  former  splendour)  to  have  prov'd 

Thy  love,  than  by  fresh  friends  to  have  been  lov'd. 

And  this  is  Lamb : — 

Oft  when  steals  on  the  meditative  hour. 
And  parlour  twilight  to  repose  invites; 

Oft  when  Imagination's  stirring  power 

Keeps  watch  with  hollow  blasts  of  winter  nights ; 

Thy  countenance  bright  upon  his  heart  doth  shower. 
By  Memory  trac'd,  the  exquisite  delights. 

Which  from  thy  smile,  and  from  thy  every  tone. 

And  intercourse  ennobling,  he  has  known. 

It  is  a  dainty  banquet,  known  to  few. 

To  thy  mind's  inner  shrine  to  have  access ; 

While  choicest  stores  of  intellect  endue 
That  sanctuary,  in  marvellous  excess. 

There  lambent  glories,  ever  bright  and  new. 
Those,  privileged  to  be  its  inmates,  bless ! 

Such  as  by  gods,  in  tributary  rite. 

Were  hail'd  from  earth,  e'en  on  their  thrones  of  light ! 

82 


"EDMUND   OLIVER*'  AND   THE  "THESES" 

But  stop  ! — 'tis  vain  ! — For  none  will  comprehend 
Though  line  on  line  dilate  upon  the  theme  : 

He  simply  wishes  to  assure  his  friend. 

How  that  his  image  (like  a  morning  beam. 

Dear  to  the  eye,  especially  if  end 

It  bring  to  wicked  and  portentous  dream) 

In  transient  intercourse,  and  seldom  given. 

Is  bless'd  to  him  as  visitant  from  Heaven. 


(Allsop,  by  the  way,  in  his  reminiscences  of 
Coleridge,  quotes  the  following  lines  on  Lamb, 
which  he  ascribes  to  Lloyd  : — 

The  child  of  impulse  ever  to  appear. 

And  yet  through  duty's  path  strictly  to  steer  ! 

Oh,  Lamb,  thou  art  a  mystery  to  me ! 

Thou  art  so  prudent,  and  so  mad  with  wildness. 

Thou  art  a  source  of  everlasting  glee ! 

Yet  desolation  of  the  very  childless 

Has  been  thy  lot !     Never  in  one  like  thee 

Did  I  see  worth  majestic  from  its  mildness ; 

So  far  in  thee  from  being  an  annoyance 

E'en  to  the  vicious  'tis  a  source  of  joyance.) 


One  more  extract,  to  prove  the  completeness 

of  the  reconciliation  of  Coleridge  and  Lamb. 

In    his   own    copy  of  his  "  Poetical  Works," 

1834,  Coleridge  wrote  in  pencil,  on  his  death- 

83 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

bed,  against  the  poem  "  This  Hme-tree  bower 
my  prison,"  the  words  : — "  Ch.  and  Mary  Lamb 
— dear  to  my  heart,  yea,  as  it  were,  my  heart. — 
S.T.C.  yEt.62,.  1834.     1797-1834=37  j^^rj/" 


84 


"the  anti- jacobin 

1798 

To  return  to  1798,  from  which,  for  the  sake 
of  sentimental  symmetry,  we  have  strayed  some 
distance,  it  happened,  by  a  freak  of  irony,  that 
while  in  private  life  Coleridge  and  Lamb  and 
Coleridge  and  Lloyd  had  drifted  apart,  they 
were  placed  under  the  public  accusation  of 
being  bound  together  not  only  in  firm  union, 
but  in  a  union  inimical  to  society.  In  the 
satirical  poem  entitled  "  The  New  Morality," 
the  last  brilliant  star  discharged  roman-candle 
like  by  The  Anti-Jacobin,  the  Bristol  Panti- 
socratists  and  their  comrades  in  poetry  were 
thus  grouped  :- 

And  ye  five  other  wandering  Bards  that  move 
In  sweet  accord  of  harmony  and  love, 

C dge  and  S — th — y,  L — d,  and  L — be  and  Co. 

Tune  all  your  mystic  harps  to  praise  Lepaux  ! 

That  was  in  the  number  of  July  9,  1798. 
The  Anti-Jacobin   then  disappeared  in   favour 
85 


CHARLES   LAMB    AND   THE   LLOYDS 

of  The  Anti-Jacobin  Review  and  Magazine^  the 
first  number  of  which — published  on  August 
1 — was  enriched  by  a  coloured  cartoon  by 
Gillray,  wherein  the  particular  passage  of  "  The 
New  Morality"  which  described  the  worship 
of  Lepaux  received  the  emphasis  of  coloured 
illustration.  In  this  picture,  which  is  a  fair 
specimen  of  Gillray's  bludgeon-pencil,  a  crowd 
of  the  more  prominent  English  revolutionists 
press  forward  to  worship  Justice,  Philanthropy, 
and  Sensibility.  Chief  of  them  is  the  Duke 
of  Bedford  as  Leviathan.  Among  the  others 
is  Colridge  (the  spelling  is  Gillray's)  in  the 
guise  of  a  donkey,  offering  a  volume  of 
"  Dactylics,"  and  Southey,  as  another  donkey, 
flourishing  a  volume  of  "  Saphics."  In  South- 
ey's  pocket  is  a  copy  of  "  Joan  of  Arc." 
Behind,  seated  side  by  side,  poring  over  a 
manuscript  entitled  "  Blank  Verse,  by  Toad 
and  Frog,"  are  a  toad  and  frog.  These  are 
marked    in  the  key  plan   Lloyd  and  Lamb.* 


» It  is  told  that  not  long  after  the  appearance  of  Gillray's  picture, 
Lamb  met  Godwin  for  the  first  time.  Lamb  was  in  uproarious  spirits, 
and  in  spite  of  the  extreme  infancy  of  their  acquaintance  persisted  in 
chaffing  the  philosopher.  Godwin  at  last  was  roused  to  put  the  mis- 
chievous question:   "Pray,  Mr.    Lamb,  are  you  toad  or  frog?"     An 

86 


"THE  ANTI-JACOBIN'* 

No  attempt  to  depict  the  portrait  of  any  of 
the  four  was  made  by  the  artist. 

Coleridge  and  Southey  may  have  been  fair 
game  for  the  satirist,  but  Lamb  and  Lloyd  cer- 
tainly were  not.  Coleridge  and  Southey  had 
collaborated  in  "  The  Fall  of  Robespierre" 
(1794).  Coleridge  also  had  lectured  at  Bristol 
in  1795  on  political  questions,  and  had  criticised 
Pitt  with  some  severity ;  and  these  lectures,  on 
being  published  under  the  titles  "  Conciones  ad 
Populum"  and  "  The  Plot  Discovered,"  had  an 
addition  by  Southey.  Coleridge  also  was  a 
contributor  to  the  Morning  Post,  and  the  friend 
of  Citizen  Thelwall,  who,  when  he  visited 
Stowey,  was  watched  by  a  spy  sent  thither  for 
the  purpose  by  the  Government.  Lloyd,  save 
for  an  inoperative  sympathy  with  universal 
brotherhood,  was,  however,  quite  harmless ; 
while  Lamb,  who  detested  the  whole  business, 
was  practically  on  the  other  side.  However,  a 
man  is  judged  by  the  company  he  keeps. 

That  Coleridge  was  singularly  distasteful  to 
the  Anti-Jacobin  mind  is  proved  by  a  note  ap- 


outburst   of   temper    from   Lamb   was    feared,    but   instead,   the    joke 
helped  forward  the  friendship  of  the  two  men. 
87 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   THE  LLOYDS 

pended  to  "  The  New  Morality,"  when  it  was 
reprinted  in  the  following  year  in  "  The  Beau- 
ties of  The  Anti-Jacobin.'"     It  ran  thus : — 

"  Some  of  these  youths  were  sadly  corrupted 
in  the  metropolis,  and  initiated  in  the  mys- 
teries of  Theophilanthropism,  when  scholars 
at  that  excellent  seminary,  Christ's  Hospital. 

C dge  was  nominated  to  an  Exhibition  at 

Cambridge,  and  the  Vice-Master  (soon  after  his 
admission)  sent  to  him,  on  account  of  his  non- 
attendance  at  chapel.  This  illuminated  gentle- 
man affected  astonishment  that  any  criminality 
could  attach  to  him  for  his  non-performance 
of  religious  worship,  the  trickery  of  Priestcraft, 
but  if  his  presence  was  required,  pro  forma,  as 
at  a  muster-roll,  he  had  no  great  objection  to 
attend.  To  the  disgrace  of  discipline,  and  a 
Christian  University,  this  avowed  Deist  was  not 
expelled  for  such  sin.  His  equalising  spirit 
and  eccentricities  have  reduced  this  poetaster 
occasionally  to  such  difficulties,  that  almost  in 
want  of  bread  he  once  addressed  a  soldier  in 
the  Park — '  Are  you  one  of  the  cutthroats  of  the 
despot  ?'  The  man  was  at  first  astonished,  but 
he  soon  found  that  his  distress  had  determined 
him  to   enlist.     His   friends   have   frequently 

88 


"THE   ANTI-JACOBIN" 

extricated  him  from  this  and  other  embarrass- 
ments. He  has  since  married,  had  children, 
and  has  now  quitted  the  country,  become  a 
citizen  of  the  world,  left  his  little  ones  father- 
less, and  his  wife  destitute.  Ex  uno  disce  his 
associates  Southey  and  Lambe."  Poor  New 
Moralists ! — never  were  men  robbed  of  their 
characters  more  lightheartedly  or  with  less 
justification.  "  Lambe"  must  indeed  have  been 
startled  by  the  indictment.  Southey,  in  writing 
to  his  friend  Wynn  on  the  subject,  in  August, 
1 798,  said : — "  I  know  not  what  poor  Lamb 
has  done  to  be  croaking  there ;  and  what  I 
think  the  worst  part  of  The  Anti-Jacobin  is  the 
lumping  together  men  of  such  opposite  prin- 
ciples ;  this  was  stupid.  We  should  have  all 
been  welcoming  the  Director^  not  the  Theophil- 
anthrope  [Lepaux]." 

Lloyd,  in  a  companion  foot-note,  was  thus 
not  unkindly  explained : — "  Mr.  Lloyd  was 
originally  of  that  fraternity  which  delights  in 
*  Meetings  for  Sufferings.'  He  is  descended 
from  an  opulent  banker,  and  connected  with 
the  first  families  oi  friends.  Like  his  relation 
at  Norwich,  he  has  adopted  the  original  prin- 
ciples of  George  Fox,  the  founder,  relative  to 

89 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Priests  and  Kings.  Mr.  Gurney  was  excluded 
the  Society  for  irregularities,  but  when  a  can- 
didate to  represent  his  native  city  in  Parliament 
was  readmitted  into  the  bond  of  unity  against 
all  constituted  authorities.  Mr.  Lloyd  con- 
tinues estranged  from  the  '  Thou's  and  Thee's' 
(the  language  of  ^ercorant,  a  quondam  Chair- 
man at  Versailles,  and  late  President  of  the 
Commune  of  Paris — vide  '  Clery's  Journal,'  p. 
173),  for  he  has  not  hypocrisy  sufficient  for  the 
profession." 

Lloyd  took  the  caricature  and  the  verses 
with  his  customary  seriousness,  going  so  far  as 
to  indite  a  "  Letter  to  the  Anti-Jacobin  Re- 
viewers," which  was  printed  in  Birmingham  in 
1799.  Therein  he  defended  Lamb  with  some 
vigour :  "  The  person  you  have  thus  leagued 
in  a  partnership  of  infamy  with  me  is  Mr. 
Charles  Lamb,  a  man  who,  so  far  from  being  a 
democrat,  would  be  the  first  person  to  assent  to 
the  opinions  contained  in  the  foregoing  pages  : 
he  is  a  man  too  much  occupied  with  real  and 
painful  duties — duties  of  high  personal  self- 
denial — to  trouble  himself  about  speculative 
matters." 

Lepaux  himself,  of  whom  it  is  quite  probable 
90 


"THE  ANTI-JACOBIN" 

that  Lamb  and  Lloyd  had  never  heard,  and 
Coleridge  and  Southey  never  thought,  except 
with  amusement,  was  a  member  of  the  Direc- 
tory, and  the  leader  of  a  sect  of  Deists  who, 
under  the  name  of  the  Theophilanthropists,  or 
lovers  of  God  and  man,  came  into  being  to 
supply  France  with  some  form  of  natural 
religion  in  place  of  total  spiritual  anarchy. 
The  Theophilanthropists,  although  opposed  to 
Christianity,  believed  in  the  existence  of  God 
and  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  During 
their  services  there  was  a  short  pause,  in  which 
the  congregation  might  meditate  in  silence  on 
their  conduct  since  the  last  meeting.  The  fol- 
lowing sentences,  which,  if  strictly  observed, 
could  lead  no  one  into  trouble,  were  displayed 
conspicuously  in  the  place  of  meeting  : — 

Adore  God,  cherish  your  fellow  creatures,  render  your- 
selves useful  to  your  country. 

Good  is  whatever  tends  to  preserve  man  or  to  per- 
fectionate  him. 

Evil  is  whatever  tends  to  destroy  him  or  to  deteriorate 
him. 

Children,  honour  your  father  and  mother,  obey  them 
with  affection,  solace  their  old  age.  Fathers  and  mothers, 
instruct  your  children. 

9« 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE  LLOYDS 

Wives,  behold  in  your  husbands  the  heads  of  your 
houses. 

Husbands,  love  your  vvrives,  and  render  yourselves 
mutually  happy. 

The  four  special  holidays  of  the  Theophilan- 
thropists  were  in  honour  of  Socrates,  St.  Vin- 
cent de  Paul,  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau,  and 
George  Washington. 

Subsequently,  in  a  piece  entitled  "  The  An- 
archists: an  Ode" — an  imitation  of  Collins's 
"Ode  to  the  Passions" — which  also  appeared 
in  The  Anti-Jacobin  Review  and  Magazine^  the 
luckless  quartette  were  again  castigated.  Thus 
(the  mighty  dam  being  Anarchy) : — 

See  !  faithful  to  their  mighty  dam, 
Coleridge,  Southey,  Lloyd,  and  Lamb, 
In  splay-foot  madrigals  of  love. 
Soft  moaning  like  the  widowed  dove. 
Pour  side  by  side  their  sympathetic  notes. 
Of  equal  rights  and  civic  feasts 
And  tyrant  Kings  and  knavish  Priests. 
Swift  through  the  land  the  tuneful  mischief  floats. 
And  now  to  softer  strains  they  struck  the  lyre. 
They  sung  the  beetle,  or  the  mole. 
The  dying  kid,  or  ass's  foal. 
By  cruel  men  permitted  to  expire. 
92 


"THE   ANTI-JACOBIN" 

And  there  the  Anti-Jacobin  attack  ended. 

Eleven  years  later,  however,  another  satirist, 
the  young  and  spirited  author  of  "  EngHsh 
Bards  and  Scotch  Reviewers"  (1809),  again 
grouped  them.  This  time  not  Lepaux,  but 
Wordsworth,  was  the  alleged  object  of  their 
adoration :  Wordsworth, 

Whose  verse,  of  all  but  childish  prattle  void. 
Seems  blessed  harmony  to  Lamb  and  Lloyd. 

His  Lordship  added  in  an  explanatory  foot- 
note that  "Messrs.  Lamb  and  Lloyd"  were 
"the  most  ignoble  followers  of  Southey  and 
Co." 


93 


VI 

CHARLES    LAMB    AND    ROBERT    LLOYD 

I 798-1 799 

In  the  autumn  of  1 798,  almost  immediately 
after  Charles  Lloyd  had  settled  at  Cambridge, 
began  Lamb's  correspondence  with  Robert 
Lloyd,  by  which  our  store  of  Lamb  literature 
is  enriched  to  the  extent  of  some  seventeen 
letters.  Robert  came  third  in  the  Lloyd 
family.  He  was  born  December  10,  1778, 
and  thus  was  not  quite  twenty  at  the  time  of 
Lamb's  first  letter,  which  was  addressed  to  him 
at  Saffron  Walden,  in  Essex,  while  he  was  serv- 
ing his  time  as  apprentice.  Lamb,  as  we  sup- 
pose, had  met  Robert  early  in  1797,  during 
Charles  Lloyd's  visit  to  town,  and  had  liked 
him  on  sight,  and  their  acquaintance  probably 
was  renewed  at  Birmingham  in  the  summer  of 

1798. 

Not,  however,  until  October  of  1798  does 
Lamb  seem  to  have   written    directly  to   his 

94 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

young  friend.  This  first  letter  is  undated,  but 
in  October  of  that  year  Mary  Lamb  had  an 
attack  which,  says  her  brother,  writing  to 
Southey,  "frightened  me  a  good  deal,"  and 
we  may  presume  it  is  that  attack  to  which 
Lamb  here  alludes.  This  is  the  letter :  Lamb, 
at  the  time,  was  approaching  his  twenty-fourth 
birthday — 

My  dear  Robert, — I  am  a  good  deal  occu- 
pied with  a  calamity  near  home,  but  not  so 
much  as  to  prevent  my  thinking  about  you 
with  the  warmest  affection — you  are  among 
my  very  dearest  friends.  I  know  you  will  feel 
deeply  when  you  hear  that  my  poor  sister  is 
unwell  again  ;  one  of  her  old  disorders,  but  I 
trust  it  will  hold  no  longer  than  her  former  ill- 
nesses have  done.  Do  not  imagine,  Robert, 
that  I  sink  under  this  misfortune,  I  have  been 
season'd  to  such  events,  and  think  I  could  bear 
anything  tolerably  well.  My  own  health  is 
left  me,  and  my  good  spirits,  and  I  have  some 
duties  to  perform — these  duties  shall  be  my  ob- 
ject. I  wish,  Robert,  you  could  find  an  object. 
I  know  the  painfulness  of  vacuity,  all  its  achings 
and  inexplicable  longings.     I  wish  to  God  I 

95 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

could  recommend  any  plan  to  you.  Stock 
your  mind  well  with  religious  knowledge  ;  dis- 
cipline it  to  wait  with  patience  for  duties  that 
may  be  your  lot  in  life ;  prepare  yourself  not 
to  expect  too  much  out  of  yourself;  read  and 
think.  This  is  all  commonplace  advice,  I  know. 
I  know,  too,  that  it  is  easy  to  give  advice  which 
in  like  circumstances  we  might  not  follow  our- 
selves. You  must  depend  upon  yourself — 
there  will  come  a  time  when  you  will  wonder 
you  were  not  more  content.  I  know  you  will 
excuse  my  saying  any  more. 

"  Be  assured  of  my  kindest,  warmest  af- 
fection. 

"C.  Lamb." 

It  is  evident,  both  from  this  letter  and  one 
or  two  that  follow,  that  Robert  Lloyd  was  in 
an  unhappy  mental  state.  Though  by  temper- 
ament unfitted  ever  to  be  as  seriously  unsettled 
as  Charles,  he  was  dissatisfied  both  with  his 
employment  and  with  the  restrictions  imposed 
upon  him  by  his  parents.  He  seems  to  have 
chafed  continually,  and  now  and  then  openly 
to  have  revolted.      A  gentle,  solicitous  letter 

from  his  mother,  belonging  to  this  period,  has 

96 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

the  following  quaint  passage  : — "  I  was  griev'd 
to  hear  of  thy  appearing  in  those  fantastical 
trousers  in  London.  I  am  clear  such  excen- 
tricities  of  dress  would  only  make  thee  laugh 'd 
at  by  the  World,  whilst  thy  sincere  Friends 
would  be  deeply  hurt.  Canst  thou  love  thy 
Father  and  yet  do  things  that  sink  him  as  well 
as  thyself  in  the  opinion  of  our  best  Friends ! 
Thou  art,  my  dear  Son,  form'd  to  make  an 
amiable  Figure  in  Society,  but  for  once  trust 
to  the  judgment  of  thy  Mother,  neither  thy 
Person  or  Mind  are  form'd  for  excentricities  of 
dress  or  conduct."  And  Robert's  father  was 
also  moved  to  write  on  the  subject,  but  with 
fewer  particulars :  "  Thou  wilt  please  me  by 
observing  simplicity  in  thy  dress  and  manners. 
Do  not  let  the  customs  of  the  world  influence 
thee."  Robert,  however,  was  young,  and  at  a 
certain  age  it  is  natural  to  suspect  the  counsel 
of  all  but  contemporaries.  Not  for  his  parents 
but  for  Lamb  did  his  confidences  ripen. 

From  the  tone  of  Lamb's  next  letter  we 
may  suppose  that  Robert  Lloyd's  reply  to  the 
earlier  one  had  been  not  only  unduly  adulatory, 
but  a  very  cry  from  the  depths  for  sympathy 
and  appreciation.     It  was  in  the  nature  both 

7  97 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

of  his  brother  Charles  and  himself  to  be  hero- 
worshippers,  and  his  new  friend's  kindly  interest 
may  naturally  have  prompted  him  to  a  burst 
of  that  deprecatory  self-revelation  to  which 
sensitive  youths  of  warm  affections  are  prone, 
coupled  with  an  appeal  to  Lamb  to  supply  the 
part  of  mentor.  Lamb  replied  with  grave  de- 
liberation : — 

"  My  dear  Robert, — Mary  is  better,  and  I 
trust  that  she  will  yet  be  restored  to  me.  I  am 
in  good  spirits,  so  do  not  be  anxious  about  me. 
I  hope  you  get  reconciled  to  your  situation. 
The  worst  in  it  is  that  you  have  no  friend  to 
talk  to — but  wait  in  patience,  and  you  will  in 
good  time  make  friends.  The  having  a  friend 
is  not  indispensably  necessary  to  virtue  or 
happiness.  Religion  removes  those  barriers  of 
sentiment  which  partition  us  from  the  dis- 
interested love  of  our  brethren — we  are  com- 
manded to  love  our  enemies,  to  do  good  to 
those  that  hate  us ;  how  much  more  is  it  our 
duty  then  to  cultivate  a  forbearance  and  com- 
placence towards  those  who  only  differ  from  us 
in  dispositions  and  ways  of  thinking.  There 
is  always,  without  very  unusual  care  there  must 

98 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    ROBERT   LLOYD 

always  be,  something  of  Self  in  friendship  ;  we 
love  our  friend  because  he  is  like  ourselves ; 
can  consequences  altogether  unmix'd  and  pure 
be  reasonably  expected  from  such  a  source — 
do  not  even  the  publicans  and  sinners  the 
same?  Say,  that  you  love  a  friend  for  his 
moral  qualities,  is  it  not  rather  because  those 
qualities  resemble  what  you  fancy  your  own  ? 
This,  then,  is  not  without  danger.  The  only 
true  cement  of  a  valuable  friendship,  the  only 
thing  that  even  makes  it  not  sinful,  is  when  two 
friends  propose  to  become  mutually  of  benefit 
to  each  other  in  a  moral  or  religious  way.  But 
even  this  friendship  is  perpetually  liable  to 
the  mixture  of  something  not  pure ;  we  love 
our  friend,  because  he  is  ours — so  we  do  our 
money,  our  wit,  our  knowledge,  our  virtue ; 
and  wherever  this  sense  of  appropriation  and 
PROPERTY  enters,  so  much  is  to  be  subtracted 
from  the  value  of  that  friendship  or  that  virtue. 
Our  duties  are  to  do  good,  expecting  nothing 
again ;  to  bear  with  contrary  dispositions ;  to 
be  candid  and  forgiving,  not  to  crave  and  long 
after  a  communication  of  sentiment  and  feel- 
ing, but  rather  to  avoid  dwelling  upon  those 
feelings,  however  good,  because  they  are  our 

99 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

own.  A  man  may  be  intemperate  and  selfish 
who  indulges  in  good  feelings  for  the  mere 
pleasure  they  give  him.  I  do  not  wish  to  deter 
you  from  making  a  friend,  a  true  friend,  and 
such  a  friendship,  where  the  parties  are  not 
blind  to  each  other's  faults,  is  very  useful  and 
valuable.  I  perceive  a  tendency  in  you  to  this 
error,  Robert.  I  know  you  have  chosen  to 
take  up  an  high  opinion  of  my  moral  worth, 
but  I  say  it  before  God,  and  I  do  not  lie,  you 
are  mistaken  in  me.  I  could  not  bear  to  lay 
open  all  my  failings  to  you,  for  the  sentiment 
of  shame  would  be  too  pungent.  Let  this  be 
as  an  example  to  you.  Robert,  friends  fall  off, 
friends  mistake  us,  they  change,  they  grow  un- 
like us,  they  go  away,  they  die ;  but  God  is 
everlasting  and  incapable  of  change,  and  to  Him 
we  may  look  with  cheerful,  unpresumptous 
hope,  while  we  discharge  the  duties  of  life  in 
situations  more  untowardly  than  yours.  You 
complain  of  the  impossibility  of  improving 
yourself,  but  be  assured  that  the  opportunity 
of  improvement  lies  more  in  the  mind  than  the 
situation.  Humble  yourself  before  God,  cast 
out  the  selfish  principle,  wait  in  patience,  do 
good  in  every  way  you   can  to  all  sorts  of 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

people,  never  be  easy  to  neglect  a  duty  tho'  a 
small  one,  praise  God  for  all,  and  see  His  hand 
in  all  things,  and  He  will  in  time  raise  you  up 
many  friends — or  be  Himself  instead  an  un- 
changing friend.     God  bless  you. 

"  C.  Lamb." 

Here  we  see  Charles  Lamb  in  a  new  and 
beautiful  character.  That  he  was  ready  to  be 
kind  and  helpful  on  occasion  we  have  proof 
enough ;  but  there  is  no  letter  among  all  those 
already  published  that  shows  him  in  the  light 
of  the  patient,  understanding  counsellor  of  a 
young  man  in  spiritual  difficulties.  What  was 
the  condition  of  Lamb's  own  mind  at  that 
time  cannot  clearly  be  stated.  There  are,  in 
his  correspondence  with  matured  men,  signs 
that  it  was  unsettled,  but  he  was  able  with  un- 
paralleled clarity  and  reasonableness  to  advise 
a  younger  and  less-experienced  acquaintance. 
Leaving  aside  the  matter  of  this  letter,  it  must 
have  been  no  small  thing  to  Lamb  to  turn  from 
his  literary  hobbies,  social  duties  and  pleasures, 
to  write  at  such  length  to  a  youth  as  markedly- 
unformed  and  intellectually-backward  as  Robert 
Lloyd. 

zoi 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

The  boy  had,  however,  a  very  winning  way. 
He  was,  we  may  consider,  impetuous,  frank, 
affectionate,  intolerant  of  even  the  semblance 
of  deception,  and  impatient  of  all  checks  upon 
emotion.  His  mind  was  less  serious  and  con- 
templative than  that  of  his  brother  Charles, 
but  not  less  eager  for  the  light  by  which  a  man 
should  live.  We  have  seen  that  Charles  was 
averse  from  laughter,  but  one  can  fancy  Robert 
laughing  often  and  with  zest. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  young 
man  thus  equipped  should  find  the  strict  prac- 
tices of  the  Quakers  distasteful ;  and  on  leav- 
ing Saffron  Walden,  which  he  did  at  this  time, 
and  returning  to  home  life  at  Birmingham, 
Robert  came  into  active  conflict  with  his  family 
on  the  subject.  He  was  indeed  in  a  position 
of  peculiar  discomfort,  for  his  temperament 
prevented  him  from  accepting  their  creed,  and 
his  honesty  disabled  him  from  affecting  to  do 
so.  This  is  no  place  for  an  inquiry  into  that 
creed ;  it  is  here  enough  to  say  that  the  peace- 
able professions  of  the  Society  of  Friends  are 
less  compatible  with  youth  than  with  age ;  and 
Robert  Lloyd  was  twenty.  His  especial  dis- 
like seems  to  have  been  the  silent  meetings. 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

grave  and  inactive,  with  no  ritual  for  the  or- 
ganisation of  wandering  thoughts,  no  music  to 
allure  the  soul  from  a  mundane  environment. 
To  Lamb  he  poured  out  his  objections,  and 
received  in  reply  this  solemn  and  touching 
appeal : — 

"  My  dear  Robert, — I  acknowledge  I  have 
been  sadly  remiss  of  late.  If  I  descend  to  any 
excuse  (and  all  excuses  that  come  short  of  a 
direct  denial  of  a  charge  are  poor  creatures  at 
best),  it  must  be  taken  from  my  state  of  mind 
for  some  time  past,  which  has  been  stupid 
rather,  and  unfilled  with  any  object,  than  occu- 
pied, as  you  may  imagine,  with  any  favourite 
idea  to  the  exclusion  of  friend  Robert.  You, 
who  are  subject  to  all  the  varieties  of  the  mind, 
will  give  me  credit  in  this. 

"  I  am  sadly  sorry  that  you  are  relapsing  into 
your  old  complaining  strain.  I  wish  I  could 
adapt  my  consolations  to  your  disease,  but, 
alas !  I  have  none  to  offer  which  your  own 
mind,  and  the  suggestions  of  books,  cannot 
better  supply.  Are  you  the  first  whose  situa- 
tion hath  not  been  exactly  squar'd  to  his  ideas  ? 

or  rather,  will  you  find  me  that  man  who  does 
103 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

not  complain  of  the  one  thing  wanting  ?  That 
thing  obtained,  another  wish  will  start  up. 
While  this  eternal  craving  of  the  mind  keeps 
up  its  eternal  hunger,  no  feast  that  my  palate 
knows  of  will  satisfy  that  hunger  till  we  come 
to  drink  the  new  wine  (whatever  it  be)  in  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Father.  See  what  trifles  dis- 
quiet  us. — You  are  Unhappy  because  your 
Parents  expect  you  to  attend  meetings.  I 
don't  know  much  of  Quakers'  meetings,  but  I 
believe  I  may  moderately  reckon  them  to  take 
up  the  space  of  six  hours  in  the  week.  Six 
hours  to  please  your  parents — and  that  time 
not  absolutely  lost.  Your  mind  remains,  you 
may  think,  and  plan,  remember,  and  foresee, 
and  do  all  human  acts  of  mind  sitting  as  well 
as  walking.  You  are  quiet  at  meeting :  one 
likes  to  be  so  sometimes ;  you  may  advantage- 
ously crowd  your  day's  devotions  into  that 
space.  Nothing  you  see  or  hear  there  can  be 
unfavourable  to  it — you  are  for  that  time  at 
least  exempt  from  the  counting-house,  and  your 
parents  cannot  chide  you  there ;  surely  at  so 
small  expense  you  cannot  grudge  to  observe 
the  Fifth  Commandment.  I  decidedly  con- 
sider your  refusal  as  a  breach  of  that  God- 
104 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

descended  precept — Honour  and  observe  thy 
parents  in  all  lawful  things.  Silent  worship 
cannot  be  C/«lawful ;  there  is  no  Idolatry,  no 
invocation  of  saints,  no  bowing  before  the  con- 
secrated wafer  in  all  this,  nothing  which  a  wise 
man  would  refuse,  or  a  good  man  fear  to  do. 
What  is  it?  Sitting  a  few  hours  in  a  week 
with  certain  good  people  who  call  that  worship. 
You  subscribe  to  no  articles — if  your  mind 
wanders,  it  is  no  crime  in  you  who  do  not  give 
credit  to  these  infusions  of  the  spirit.  They 
sit  in  a  temple,  you  sit  as  in  a  room  adjoining, 
only  do  not  disturb  their  pious  work  with  gab- 
bling, nor  your  own  necessary  peace  with  heart- 
burnings at  your  not  ill-meaning  parents,  nor  a 
silly  contempt  of  the  work  which  is  going  on 
before  you,  I  know  that  if  my  parents  were 
to  live  again,  I  would  do  more  things  to  please 
them  than  merely  sitting  still  six  hours  in  a 
week.  Perhaps  I  enlarge  too  much  on  this 
affair,  but  indeed  your  objection  seems  to  me 
ridiculous,  and  involving  in  it  a  principle  of 
frivolous  and  vexatious  resistance. 

"  You  have  often  borne  with  my  freedoms, 
bear  with  me  once  more  in  this.     If  I  did  not 

love  you,  I  should  not  trouble  myself  whether 
105 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

you  went  to  meeting  or  not — whether  you  con- 
form'd  or  not  [to]  the  will  of  your  father. 

"  I  am  now  called  off  to  dinner  before  one 
o'clock ;  being  a  holyday  we  dine  early,  for 
Mary  and  me  to  have  a  long  walk  afterwards. 
My  kindest  remembrance  to  Charles.^ 

"  God  give  him  all  joy  and  quiet. 

"  Mary  sends  her  LOVE. 

"  C.  L." 


Lamb's  next  communication  to  Robert — the 
first  to  bear  a  date — seems  to  have  been  added 
as  a  postscript  to  a  letter  to  another  member 
of  the  family  at  Birmingham,  probably  Charles, 
at  home  on  a  visit.  And  with  it  we  come  at 
length  to  something  more  in  the  true  manner 
of  the  nimble,  playful  wit  and  deep-seeing  critic 
who    is   known  to  the  world  as  Elia.     Only 


'  The  message  to  Charles  reminds  us  that  Lamb  was  occasionally 
seeing  and  hearing  from  his  old  associate.  To  Southey  he  wrote  in 
October:  "I  have  had  a  letter  from  Lloyd.  The  young  meta- 
physician of  Caius  is  well,  and  is  busy  recanting  the  new  heresy, 
metaphysics,  for  the  old  dogma,  Greek."  And  again,  in  November  : 
"  I  am  going  to  meet  Lloyd  at  Ware  on  Saturday,  to  return  on 
Sunday.  Have  you  any  commands  or  commendations  to  the  meta- 
physician ?" 

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s. 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    ROBERT   LLOYD 

Elia  could  have  written   this  spirited  paean  of 
the  joy  of  living. 

"  Now  'tis  Robert's  turn. 

"  My  dear  Robert, — One  passage  in  your 
Letter  a  little  displeas'd  me.  The  rest  was 
nothing  but  kindness,  which  Robert's  letters  are 
ever  brimful  of  You  say  that '  this  World  to 
you  seems  drain'd  of  all  its  sweets  I'  At  first 
I  had  hoped  you  only  meant  to  insinuate  the 
high  price  of  Sugar  !  but  I  am  afraid  you  meant 
more.  O  Robert,  I  don't  know  what  you  call 
sweet.  Honey  and  the  honeycomb,  roses  and 
violets,  are  yet  in  the  earth.  The  sun  and 
moon  yet  reign  in  Heaven,  and  the  lesser  lights 
keep  up  their  pretty  twinklings.  Meats  and 
drinks,  sweet  sights  and  sweet  smells,  a  country 
walk,  spring  and  autumn,  follies  and  repentance, 
quarrels  and  reconcilements,  have  all  a  sweet- 
ness by  turns.  Good  humour  and  good  nature, 
friends  at  home  that  love  you,  and  friends 
abroad  that  miss  you,  you  possess  all  these 
things,  and  more  innumerable,  and  these  are  all 
sweet  things.  .  .  .  You  may  extract  honey 
from  everything ;  do  not  go  a  gathering  after 

gall.     The  Bees  are  wiser  in  their  generation 
107 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

than  the  race  of  sonnet  writers  and  complainers, 
Bowles's  and  Charlotte  Smiths,  and  all  that 
tribe,  who  can  see  no  joys  but  what  are  past, 
and  fill  people's  heads  with  notions  of  the  un- 
satisfying nature  of  Earthly  comforts.  I  assure 
you  I  find  this  world  a  very  pretty  place.  My 
kind  love  to  all  your  Sisters  and  to  Thomas — 
he  never  writes  to  me — and  tell  Susanna  I 
forgive  her. 

"  C.  Lamb. 

"London,  the  13th  November,  1798.** 

The  concluding  message  suggests  that  Lamb 
was  on  a  footing  of  some  intimacy  with  others 
of  the  Lloyd  family.  Thomas  was  Robert's 
younger  brother,  the  next  to  him  in  age ; 
Susanna  was  probably  Susanna  Whitehead, 
whom  Thomas  afterwards  married. 

A  week  later  Lamb  hints  at  a  letter  which 
apparently  has  been  lost,  and  sends  the  first 
draft  of  his  dramatic  fragment,  "  The  Witch." 
The  letter  is  undated,  but  the  postmark  gives 
November  20,  1798: — 

"  As  the  little  copy  of  verses  I  sent  gave 
Priscilla  and  Robert  some  pleasure,  I  now  send 

them  another  little  tale,  which  is  all  I  can  send, 

108 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

for  my  stock  will  be  exhausted.  .  .  .  'Tis  a 
tale  of  witchcraft,  told  by  an  old  Steward  in 
the  family  to  Margaret,  the  ward  of  Sir  Walter 
Woodvil.  fVho  Sir  Walter  is  you  may  come 
to  know  bye  and  bye,  when  I  have  finished  a 
Poem,  from  which  this  and  the  other  are  ex- 
tracts, and  all  the  extracts  I  can  make  without 
mutilating : — 

Old  Steward.    One   summer  night   Sir  Walter,  as   it 
chanc'd. 
Was  pacing  to  and  fro  in  the  avenue 
That  westward  fronts  our  house. 
Among  those  aged  oaks  said  to  have  been  planted 
Three  hundred  years  ago 

By  a  neighb'ring  Prior  of  the  Woodvil  name ; 
But  so  it  was. 

Being  o'er  task'd  in  thought  he  heeded  not 
The  importune  suit  of  one  who  stood  by  the  gate. 
And  begg'd  an  alms. 

Some  say,  he  shov'd  her  rudely  from  the  gate 
With  angry  chiding  ;  but  I  can  never  think, 
(Sir  Walter's  nature  hath  a  sweetness  in  it,) 
That  he  could  treat  a  woman,  an  old  woman. 
With  such  discourtesy. 

For  old  she  was  who  begg'd  an  alms  of  him. 
Well,  he  refus'd  her. 
(Whether  for  importunity  I  know  not. 
Or  that  she  came  between  his  meditations,) 
But  better  had  he  met  a  Lion  in  the  Streets, 
109 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Than  this  old  woman  that  night. 

For  she  was  one  who  practis'd  the  black  arts. 

And  serv'd  the  Devil,  being  since  burnt  for  witchcraft. 

She  look'd  at  him  like  one  that  meant  to  blast  him 

And  with  a  frightful  noise, 

('Twas  partly  like  a  woman's  voice. 

And  partly  like  the  hissing  of  a  snake,) 

She  nothing  spake  but  this  :   Sir  Walter  told  the  words. 

"  A  mischief,  mischief,  mischief 

And  a  nine  times  killing  curse, 
By  day  and  by  night,  to  the  caitive  wight, 
Who  shakes  the  poor,  like  snakes,  from  his  door. 

And  shuts  up  the  womb  of  his  purse  : 

And  a  mischief,  mischief,  mischief, 

And  a  ninefold  with'ring  curse — 
For  that  shall  come  to  thee  that  will  undo  thee. 

Both  all  that  thou  fear'st  and  worst." 

These  words  four  times  repeated,  she  departed 
Leaving  Sir  Walter  like  a  man,  beneath 
Whose  feet  a  scaffolding  had  suddenly  fall'n. 

Margaret.  A  terrible  curse  I 

0/J  Steward.   O  Lady  I  such  bad  things  are  said  of  that 
old  woman. 
You  would  be  loth  to  hear  them  ! 
As,  namely,  that  the  milk  she  gave  was  sour. 
And  the  babe,  who  suck'd  her,  shrivell'd  like  a  mandrake' 

'  **  A  mandrake  is  a  root  resembling  the  human  form,  as  sometimes 
a  carrot  does,  and  the  old  superstition  is,  that  when  the  mandrake  is 
torn  out  of  the  earth  a  dreadful  shriek  is  heard,  which  makes  all  who 
hear  it  go  mad.     'Tis  a  fatal  poison  besides." 

no 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

And  things  besides,  with  a  bigger  horror  in  them. 
Almost,  I  think,  unlawful  to  be  told ! 

Margaret.  Then  I  must  never  hear  them.     But  pro- 
ceed. 
And  say  what  follow'd  on  the  witch's  curse. 

Old  Steward.  Nothing  immediate ;  but  some  nine  months 
after 
Young  Stephen  Woodvil  suddenly  fell  sick. 
And  none  could  tell  what  ail'd  him  ;  for  he  lay. 
And  pin'd,  and  pin'd,  till  all  his  hair  came  off. 
And  he,  that  was  full  flesh'd,  became  as  thin 
As  a  two   months'  babe  that   has    been  starv'd   in   the 

nursing. 
And  sure,  I  think. 

He  bore  his  illness  like  a  little  child. 
With  such  rare  sweetness,  and  dumb  melancholy. 
He  strove  to  clothe  his  agony  in  smiles. 
Which  he  would  force  up  in  his  poor  pale  cheeks. 
Like    ill-tim'd    guests    that    had    no    proper    dwelling 

there. 
And,  when  they  ask'd  him  his  complaint,  he  laid 
His  hand  upon  his  heart  to  show  the  place 
Where  Susan  came  to  him  a  nights,  he  said. 
And  prick'd  him  with  a  pin. 
And  thereupon  Sir  Walter  call'd  to  mind 
The  beggar  witch  who  stood  in  the  gatewayi 
And  begg'd  an  alms. 

Margaret.  And  so  he  died? 

Old  Steward.  *Tis  thought  so. 

Margaret.  But  did  the  witch  confess  ? 

Old  Steward,     All  this  and  more  at  her  death. 
Ill 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

Margaret.  I  do  not  love  to  credit  tales  of  magic. 
Heav'n's  music,  which  is  order,  seems  unstrung. 
And  this  brave  world. 

Creation's  beauteous  workmanship,  unbeautify'd, 
Disorder'd,     marr'd,     where    such     strange     things    are 
acted. 

"  I  will  here  conclude  my  tiny  portion  of 
Prose  with  hoping  you  may  like  the  story,  and 
my  kind  remembrances  to  all. 

"C.  Lamb. 

"  Write  soon,  Robert." 

Lamb  afterwards  changed  his  mind  about 
this  passage,  which  was  not  incorporated  in 
"John  Woodvil,"  but  stands  alone  in  his 
works,  an  independence  emphasised  by  the  al- 
teration of  the  name  of  Woodvil  to  Fairford. 
A  comparison  of  the  poem  as  it  stands,  with 
its  form  as  Robert  and  Priscilla  Lloyd  first 
knew  it,  illustrates  the  nicety  of  its  author's 
artistic  conscience.^ 

•  To  Southey  Lamb  wrote  more  than  once  on  the  subject  of  "  The 
Witch."  His  letter  of  November,  1798  ("Letters,"  i.  p.  97)  makes 
it  clear  that  Charles  Lloyd's  opinion  also  was  asked.  Thus  :  "  Lloyd 
objects  to  '  shutting  up  the  womb  of  his  purse,'  in  my  curse  (which, 
for  a  christian  witch  in  a  Christian  country,  is  not  too  mild,  I  hope). 
Do  you  object  ?  I  think  there  is  a  strangeness  in  the  idea,  as  well  as 
112 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

And  here  a  word  as  to  Robert's  sister  Priscilla. 
Priscilla  Lloyd,  Mr.  Lloyd's  sixth  child,  was  at 
this  time — the  autumn  of  1 798 — -just  seventeen. 
Her  future  husband,  Christopher  Wordsworth, 
the  brother  of  the  poet, — who  was  introduced 
to  the  family  by  Charles  Lloyd,  his  pupil  at 
Cambridge, — thus  describes  her  in  a  letter  be- 
longing to  the  period :  "  My  Priscilla  is  now 
a  little  more  than  seventeen,  not  under  the  mid- 
dle size  of  women,  not  slender,  not  handsome, 
but  what  at  times  you  would,  I  think,  call  a 
fine  woman."  According  to  Charles  she  was 
like  Mrs.  Siddons.  In  due  course  we  shall 
reach  Priscilla's  marriage  ;  but  as  this  chapter 
has  already  touched  upon  Quaker  revolt,  it 
might  here  be  remarked  that  subsequently  she 
became  the  mother  of  Charles  Wordsworth, 
Bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  and  Christopher  Words- 
worth, Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  the  grandmother 


*  shaking  the  poor  like  snakes  from  his  door,'  which  suits  the 
speaker.  Witches  illustrate,  as  fine  ladies  do,  from  their  own  familiar 
objects,  and  snakes  and  the  shutting-up  of  wombs  are  in  their  way. 
I  don't  know  that  this  last  charge  has  been  before  brought  against  'em, 
nor  either  the  sour  milk  or  the  mandrake  babe;  but  I  affirm  these  be 
things  a  witch  would  do  if  she  could."  The  postscript  to  this  letter 
is  amusing :  "  When  you  write  to  Lloyd,  he  wishes  his  Jacobin  corres- 
pondents to  address  him  as  Mr.  C.  L." 
8  H3 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

of  John  Wordsworth,  Bishop  of  Salisbury — 
no  bad  achievement  for  a  Quaker's  daughter. 

To  1798  belong  no  more  letters,  but  early 
in  the  new  year — on  January  21,1 799 — Lamb, 
writing  to  Southey,  spoke  of  a  startling  occur- 
rence, which  was  destined  to  bring  Robert 
Lloyd  nearer  to  him  than  any  correspondence 
could : — "  I  am  requested  by  [Charles]  Lloyd 
to  excuse  his  not  replying  to  a  kind  letter  re- 
ceived from  you.  He  is  at  present  situated  in 
most  distressful  family  perplexities,  which  I  am 
not  at  liberty  to  explain,  but  they  are  such  as 
to  demand  all  the  strength  of  his  mind,  and 
quite  exclude  any  attention  to  foreign  objects. 
His  brother  Robert  (the  flower  of  his  family) 
hath  eloped  from  the  persecutions  of  his  father, 
and  has  taken  shelter  with  me.  What  the 
issue  of  his  adventure  will  be  I  know  not.  He 
hath  the  sweetness  of  an  angel  in  his  heart, 
combined  with  admirable  firmness  of  purpose, 
an  uncultivated,  but  very  original,  and  I  think 
superior,  genius." 

Precisely  what  Lamb  meant  by  the  word 

"  persecutions,"  or  whether  he  meant  it  at  all, 

but  wished   merely  to   suggest   Robert's  own 

view  of  the  matter,  we  shall  never  know.     In 

114 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

those  letters  from  Mr.  Lloyd  to  his  son  which 
have  been  preserved  there  certainly  is  nothing 
to  which  the  word  could  apply.  This,  for 
example,  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  paternal 
reasoning : — "  I  am  sometimes  concerned  to 
hear  that  thou  givest  way  to  uncomfortable 
feelings  and  repinest  at  thy  situation.  Have  a 
little  patience,  my  dear  Son,  and  thou  wilt  have 
reason  to  rejoice  that  thou  passedst  the  days  of 
thy  youth  in  such  a  quiet,  retired  situation. 
'  It  is  good  for  a  man  to  bear  the  yoke  in  his 
youth,'  and  I  am  persuaded  Charles  and  James 
would  in  many  respects  have  received  great 
advantages  had  they  been  apprenticed  out  in 
steady  families." 

Yet  the  fact  remains  that  Robert  fled.  It 
may,  however,  have  been  less  because  he 
found  Birmingham  unbearable  than  London 
irresistible.  He  went  straight  to  the  sympa- 
thetic Lamb,  and  with  him  or  near  him  re- 
mained for  some  months.  Writing  on  May 
20,  Lamb  gave  Southey  a  further  account  of 
the  embroilment  and  his  own  mischievous 
pleasure  therein  : — "  Lloyd  will  now  be  able  to 
give  you  an  account  of  himself,  so  to  him  I 
leave  you  for  satisfaction.  Great  part  of  his 
"5 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

troubles  are  lightened  by  the  partial  recovery 
of  his  sister,  who  had  been  alarmingly  ill  with 
similar  diseases  to  his  own.  The  other  part  of 
the  family  troubles  sleeps  for  the  present,  but  I 
fear  will  awake  at  some  future  time  to  con- 
found and  disunite.  He  will  probably  tell  you 
all  about  it.  Robert  still  continues  here  with 
me  ;  his  father  has  proposed  nothing,  but  would 
willingly  lure  him  back  with  fair  professions. 
But  Robert  is  endowed  with  a  wise  fortitude, 
and  in  this  business  has  acted  quite  from  him- 
self, and  wisely  acted.  His  parents  must  come 
forward  in  the  end.  I  like  reducing  parents  to 
a  sense  of  undutifulness.  I  like  confounding 
the  relations  of  life."  ' 

What  happened  at  Birmingham  after  Robert's 
elopement,  or  what  he  did  in  London,  or  how 
Lamb  extricated  himself — as  assuredly  he  did — 
from  such  an  embarrassing  position  as  aider  and 
abettor  of  an  unfilial  rebel,  is  not  known. 

After  Lamb's  reports  to  Southey  our  next 
glimpse  of  Robert  is  in  a  letter  from  Priscilla 
in  June  of  the  same  year,  in  which  he  is  ad- 

*  From  a  letter  (printed  in  full  in  Mr.  W.  C.  Hazlitt's  work, 
"  The  Lambs"),  a  portion  only  of  wliich  is  used  by  Canon  Ainger^ 
in  Lamb's  "Letters." 

ii6 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

dressed  at  Bath.  His  sister  entered  with  gentle 
reasonableness  into  his  difficulties,  sympathising 
with  his  objections  to  business  and  suggesting 
possible  solutions.  She  wrote  :  "  Lamb  would 
not  I  think  by  any  means  be  a  person  to  take 
up  your  abode  with.  He  is  too  much  like 
yourself — he  would  encourage  those  feelings 
which  it  certainly  is  your  duty  to  suppress. 
Your  station  in  life — the  duties  which  are 
pointed  out  by  that  rank  in  society  which 
you  are  destined  to  fulfil — differ  widely  from 
his.  .  .  .  Charles,"  Priscilla  added,  "wishes 
you  to  call  on  Southey  at  Bristol  frequently." 


117 


VII 

THOMAS    MANNING    AND    ROBERT    LLOYD 
1 799-1 800 

On  returning  to  Birmingham,  the  storm 
having  subsided,  Robert  found  a  new  friend. 
This  was  Thomas  Manning,  destined  after- 
wards to  inspire  some  of  Lamb's  best  letters, 
and  therefore  some  of  the  best  letters  in  the 
world,  who  was  then  spending  a  portion  of  the 
long  vacation  with  Charles  Lloyd,  one  of  his 
mathematical  pupils  at  Caius.  Manning,  at 
that  time  a  man  of  twenty-seven,  was  attracted 
to  Robert  Lloyd  much  as  Lamb  had  been,  and 
from  a  little  bundle  of  eight  letters '  written  to 
him  by  Robert  Lloyd  in  the  autumn  of  1 799 
and  spring  of  1800,  we  may  conclude  that 
Robert  found  in  him  the  ideal  confidant  for 
whom  he  had  been  seeking.  He  seems  just 
then  to  have  needed  a  friend  more  poignantly 

'  Now  in  the  possession  of  Canon  Manning,  with  whose  kind  per- 
mission quotations  are  made  here. 

iiS 


THOMAS   MANNING  AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

than  at  any  period  of  his  life,  and  Manning 
gave  him  true  help.  These  letters,  which  it  is 
not  profitable  to  quote  entire,  are  filled  with 
gratitude  to  a  wise  and  kindly  counsellor.  "  To 
you,'*  Robert  says  in  one,  "  I  fear  to  tell  noth- 
ing. Lamb  is  a  different  cast,  he  understands 
not  the  complex  winding  of  character,  so  that 
I  keep  from  him  what  if  I  told  would  give  him 
notions  that  he  could  never  make  meet  [word 
partly  illegible]." 

In  September  Robert  visited  his  uncle,  Ne- 
hemiah  Lloyd,  at  Worcester,  and  soon  after- 
wards came  the  following  incomplete  letter 
from  Lamb : — 

"  My  dear  Robert, — I  suppose  by  this  time 
you  have  returned  from  Worcester  with  Uncle 
Nehemiah.  You  neglected  to  inform  me 
whether  Charles  is  yet  at  Birm.  I  have  heard 
here  that  he  is  returned  to  Cambridge.  Give 
him  a  gentle  tap  on  the  shoulder  to  remind 
him  how  truly  acceptable  a  letter  from  him 
would  be.     I  have  nothing  to  write  about. 

"  Thomson  remains  with  me.  He  is  per- 
petually getting  into  mental  vagaries.  He  is 
in  LOVE  I  and  tosses  and  tumbles  about  in  his 

"9 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE  LLOYDS 

bed  like  a  man  in  a  barrel  of  spikes.  He  is 
more  sociable,  but  I  am  heartily  sick  of  his 
domesticating  with  me ;  he  wants  so  many 
sympathies  of  mine,  and  I  want  his,  that  we 
are  daily  declining  into  civility.  I  shall  be  truly 
glad  when  he  is  gone.  I  find  'tis  a  dangerous 
experiment  to  grow  too  familiar.  Some  natures 
cannot  bear  it  without  converting  into  indiffer- 
ence. I  know  but  one  Being  that  I  could  ever 
consent  to  live  perpetually  with,  and  that  is 
Robert.  But  Robert  must  go  whither  prudence 
and  paternal  regulations  indicate  a  way.  I  shall 
not  soon  forget  you — do  not  fear  that — nor 
grow  cool  towards  Robert.  My  not  writing  is 
no  proof  of  these  disloyalties.  Perhaps  I  am 
unwell,  or  vexed,  or  spleen'd,  or  something, 
when  I  should  otherwise  write. 

"  Assure  Charles  of  my  unalterable  affection, 
and  present  my  warmest  wishes  for  his  and 
Sophia's  happiness.  How  goes  on  Priscilla? 
I  am  much  pleased  with  his  Poems  in  the 
Anthology — One  in  Particular.  The  other  is 
a  kind  and  no  doubt  just  tribute  to  Robert  and 
Olivia,  but  I  incline  to  opinion  that  these  do- 
mestic addresses  should  not  always  be  made 
public.     I  have,  I  know,  more  than  once  ex- 


THOMAS   MANNING  AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

posed  my  own  secretest  feelings  of  that  nature, 
but  I  am  sorry  that  I  did.  Nine  out  of  ten 
readers  laugh  at  them.  When  a  man  dies  leav- 
ing the  name  of  a  great  author  behind  him, 
any  unpublished  relicks  which  let  one  into  his 
domestic  retirements  are  greedily  gathered  up, 
which  in  his  lifetime,  and  before  his  fame  had 
ripened,  would  by  many  be  considered  as  im- 
pertinent. But  if  Robert  and  his  sister  were 
gratify'd  with  seeing  their  brother's  heart  in 
Print,  let  the  rest  of  the  world  go  hang.  They 
may  prefer  the  remaining  trumpery  of  the 
Anthology.  All  I  mean  to  say  is,  I  think  I 
perceive  an  indelicacy  in  thus  exposing  one's 
virtuous  feelings  to  criticism.  But  of  delicacy 
Charles  is  at  least  as  true  a  judge  as  myself 

"  Pray  request  him  to  let  me  somehow  have 
a  sight  of  his  novel.  I  declined  offering  it  here 
for  sale,  for  good  reasons  as  I  thought — being 
unknown  to  Booksellers,  and  not  made  for 
making  bargains  ;  but  for  that  reason  I  am  not 
to  be  punished  with  not  seeing  the  book. 

"  I  shall  count  it  a  kindness  if  Chas.  will 
send  me  the  manuscript,  which  shall  certainly 
be  returned.  [The  remainder  of  this  letter  has 
been  torn  off.]  " 

121 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

The  Thomson  referred  to  was  a  Cambridge 
curate.  The  allusion  to  Charles  Lloyd  a  little 
later  is  our  first  intimation  of  his  intended  mar- 
riage. Sophia  was  Sophia  Pemberton,  of  Bir- 
mingham, to  whom  he  was  united  very  shortly 
after  Lamb's  congratulations.  According  to 
De  Quincey,  Miss  Pemberton's  parents  were  so 
averse  from  the  match  that  Lloyd  secured  the 
assistance  of  Southey  to  carry  her  off.  That, 
however,  probably  was  not  so.  One  cannot 
quite  see  Southey  thus  engaged.  Although 
married,  Charles  Lloyd  did  not  leave  Cambridge 
for  some  months. 

To  return  to  Lamb's  letter,  the  Anthology 
was  the  "  Annual  Anthology"  which  Southey 
had  been  busily  preparing  for  Cottle  during  the 
preceding  year.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Charles 
Lloyd  was  represented  by  four  contributions : 
the  "  Lines  to  a  Brother  and  Sister"  (Robert 
and  Olivia),  to  which  Lamb  took  exception ; 
some  blank  verse  "  To  a  Young  Man  who  con- 
sidered the  perfection  of  human  nature  as 
consisting  in  the  vigour  and  indulgence  of  the 
more  boisterous  passions,"  and  sonnets  to  a 
Woodpecker  and  the  Sabbath.  Lamb's  inter- 
esting comments  upon  taste,  which  are  as  per- 

122 


THOMAS   MANNING  AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

tinent  to-day  as  they  were  when  written,  form 
the  first  piece  of  literary  criticism  in  his  letters 
to  Robert  Lloyd.  Charles  Lloyd's  novel,  to 
which  Lamb  refers,  was  "  Edmund  Oliver," 
published  in  1798,  more  than  a  year  before. 
Considering  that  that  ill-starred  work  was  dedi- 
cated to  him,  it  is  particularly  odd  that  Lamb 
should  not  have  yet  seen  a  copy.  But  in  its 
author's  hypersensitiveness  the  reason  is  prob- 
ably to  be  sought. 

Lamb  and  Manning  first  met  late  in  1799, 
during  a  visit  paid  by  Lamb  to  Charles  Lloyd. 
In  all  likelihood  the  time  was  early  December. 
Indeed,  a  letter  from  Mr.  Lloyd  to  his  sons 
Robert  and  Thomas,  written  in  London  on  the 
fifth  of  that  month,  has  a  passage — "  I  took 
Priscilla  and  Rachel  to  the  India  House,  but 
C.  Lamb  was  gone  to  Cambridge" — which, 
when  taken  into  association  with  Lamb's  first 
letter  to  Manning,  dated  December,  may  be 
said  to  settle  the  point.  This  bringing  together 
of  two  such  complementary  natures  as  Lamb 
and  Manning  was  Charles  Lloyd's  most  con- 
spicuous achievement.  Had  he  not  done  so, 
by  how  much  good  fun  and  good  sense  should 

we  be  the  poorer ! — for  Lamb  was   never   in 
123 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

better  pin  than  in  his  letters  to  the  mathe- 
matician-traveller. It  was  Manning  who  gave 
him  the  Chinese  story  on  which  the  "  Disser- 
tation on  Roast  Pig"  pivots.  "  He  is  a  man  of 
a  thousand,"  Lamb  wrote  to  Coleridge  a  week 
after  making  this  new  friend,  the  reconciliation 
with  Coleridge  having  been  completed  almost 
at  the  same  time  that  Manning  entered  Lamb's 
life.     Truly  a  notable  December. 

In  another  of  Mr.  Lloyd's  letters  during  his 
sojourn  in  town  he  wrote :  "  C.  Lamb  dined 
here  a  few  days  ago,  and  is  to  breakfast  here 
on  5th  day."  Lamb's  next  letter  to  Robert 
gave  some  account  of  the  banker's  hospitality : — 

"  Dear  Rob, — Thy  presents  will  be  most  ac- 
ceptable whenever  they  come,  both  for  thy 
sake  and  for  the  liquor,  which  is  a  beverage  I 
most  admire.  Wine  makes  me  hot,  and  brandy 
makes  me  drunk,  but  porter  warms  without 
intoxication  ;  and  elevates,  yet  not  too  much 
above  the  point  of  tranquillity.  But  I  hope 
Robert  will  come  himself  before  the  tap  is  out. 
He  may  be  assured  that  his  good  honest  com- 
pany is  the  most  valuable  present,  after  all,  he 

can  make  us.     These  cold  nights  crave  some- 

124 


THOMAS   MANNING  AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

thing  beside  Porter — good  English  mirth  and 
heart's  ease.  Rob  must  contrive  to  pass  some 
of  his  Christmas  with  us,  or  at  least  drink  in 
the  century  with  a  welcome. 

"  I  have  not  seen  your  father  or  Priscilla 
since.  Your  father  was  in  one  of  his  best 
humours  (I  have  seldom  seen  him  in  one  not 
good),  and  after  dinner,  while  we  were  sitting 
comfortably  before  the  parlour  fire,  after  our 
wine,  he  beckoned  me  suddenly  out  of  the 
room.  I,  expecting  some  secrets,  followed 
him,  but  it  was  only  to  go  and  sit  with  him  in 
the  old  forsaken  compting  house,  which  he  de- 
clared to  be  the  pleasantest  spot  in  the  house 
to  him,  and  told  me  how  much  business  used 
to  be  done  there  in  former  days.  Your  father 
whimsically  mixes  the  good  man  and  the  man 
of  business  in  his  manners,  but  he  is  not 
less  a  good  man  for  being  a  man  of  business. 
He  has  conceived  great  hopes  of  thy  one  day 
uniting  both  characters,  and  I  joyfully  expect 
the  same. 

"  I  hope  to  see   Priscilla,  for  the  first  time, 

some  day  the  end  of  this  week,  but  think  it  at 

least  dubious,  as  she  stays  in  town  but  one  day, 

I  think  your  father  said. 
125 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"  I  wonder  Rob  could  think  I  should  take 
his  presents  in  evil  part.  I  am  sure  from  him 
they  are  the  genuine  result  of  a  sincere  friend- 
ship, not  immediately  knowing  how  better  to 
express  itself  I  shall  enjoy  them  with  tenfold 
gust,  as  being  his  presents.  At  the  same  time, 
I  must  remind  him  that  such  expressions,  if  too 
thickly  repeated,  would  be  in  danger  of  prov- 
ing oppressive. 

"  I  am  not  fond  of  presents  all  on  one  side, 
and  Rob  knows  that  I  have  little  to  present  to 
him,  except  the  assurances  of  an  undiminished 
and  an  undiminishable  friendship.  Rob  will 
take  as  a  hint  what  his  friend  does  not  mean  as 
an  affront.  I  hope  our  friendship  will  stand 
firm,  without  the  help  of  scaffolding. 

"  At  the  same  time  I  am  determined  to  enjoy 
Robert's  present,  and  to  drink  his  health  in  his 
own  porter,  and  I  hope  he  will  be  able  to  par- 
take with  us.  Bread  and  cheese  and  a  hearty 
sympathy  may  prove  no  bad  supplement  to 
Robert's  good  old  English  beverage.  Charles 
has  not  written  to  me  since  I  saw  him.  I  trust 
he  goes  on  as  comfortably  as  I  witness'd.  No 
husband  and  wife  can  be  happier  than  Sophia 

and  your  Brother  appear  to  be  in  each  other's 

126 


THOMAS   MANNING  AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

company/     Robert  must  marry  next ;  I  look 
to  see  him  get  the  start  of  Wordsworth  and 
Priscilla,  whom  yet  I  wish  to  see  united. 
"  Farewell,  dearest  Rob, 

"  C.  L. 

"  Mary  joins  with  me  in  remembrances  to 
Robert,  and  in  expectation  of  the  coming  bev- 
erage. 

"  Do  you  think  you  shall  be  able  to  come  ? 

"  Monday  night,  just  Porter  time. 

"December  17,  1799." 

The  counting-house  to  which  Lamb  was 
taken  by  his  host  was  David  Barclay's,  where 
Mr.  Lloyd  had  learned  banking  as  a  youth. 

Robert  does  not  seem  to  have  been  able  to 
accept  Lamb's  invitation  and  fare  to  town  ;  but 
Manning  did,  and  there,  under  Lamb's  roof, 

•  Lamb  seems  to  have  been  much  attracted  by  Sophia  Lloyd.  His 
letters  to  Manning  at  this  time  have  several  references  to  her.  In  one 
he  sends  the  young  couple  his  "dearest  love  and  remembrances;"  in 
another — March  17,  1800,  he  indulges  in  a  little  affectionate  exagger- 
ation :  "  My  dear  love  to  Lloyd  and  Sophia,  and  pray  split  this  thin 
letter  into  three  parts,  and  present  them  with  the  fwo  biggest  in  my 
name.  They  are  my  oldest  friends ;  but,  ever  the  new  friend  driveth 
out  the  old,  as  the  ballad  sings.  God  bless  you  all  three  !  I  would 
hear  from  Lloyd  if  I  could." 

127 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

he  met  Coleridge.  Writing  to  Manning  in 
February,  1800,  Robert  said :  "  I  find  you  have 
been  in  London.  I  doubt  not  but  you  spent 
your  time  very  happily  when  at  Lamb's.  He 
sometimes,  indeed  often,  writes  to  me.  I  prize 
his  letters  as  I  do  yours,  and  I  long  to  have 
more  of  yours  to  look  at.  I  value  them  more 
than  books,  or  any  other  writings — I  quite 
nurse  them  up.  Do  write  to  me  shortly,  any- 
thing from  you  will  prove  abundantly  accept- 
able." We  may  gather  that  Manning  replied 
at  once,  although  his  letter  is  undated : — 

"  Sunday. 

"  My  very  dear  Friend, — I  have  been  too 
negligent  of  you.  I  ought  to  have  written  be- 
fore, yet  for  all  that  I  shall  stand  excused 
before  you.  If  I  tell  you  that  my  negligence 
has  not  proceeded  from  any  waning  of  love,  or 
any  unkind  impressions,  you  will  believe  me. 
You'll  acquit  me  of  all  the  important  part  of 
the  charge,  and  the  rest  your  love  will  excuse 
and  pardon — for  you  know  me.  I  am  proud, 
Robert,  to  be  known  and  beloved  by  you. 

"  There  are  men  here,  very  good  men,  who 

do  not  rightly  appreciate  my  mind  and  dispo- 
128 


THOMAS   MANNING  AND    ROBERT   LLOYD 

sition ;  they  see  something  reserv'd  in  me,  and 
imagine  me  to  be  designing  in  some  measure. 
I  thought  I  had  discovered  an  instance  of  it 
just  before  your  letter  came.  I  felt  a  little 
damp  upon  my  spirits,  and  you  cannot  think 
how  consoling  were  the  assurances  you  give  me 
of  your  love  and  esteem.  As  I  could  not  bear 
to  think  of  your  being  alienated  from  me,  so 
the  assurance  (just  at  that  time)  of  your  being 
still  my  own,  was  reviving  to  my  spirit. 

"  I  was  indeed  very  happy  at  Lamb's ;  I 
abode  there  but  three  days.  He  is  very  good. 
I  wish  you  and  He  and  myself  were  now  sit- 
ting over  a  bowl  of  punch,  or  a  tankard  of 
porter.  We  often  talked  of  You,  and  were 
perfectly  agreed  ;  but  I  won't  tell  you  what  we 
agreed  to  about  you,  lest  you  should  hold  up 
your  head  too  high.  You'll  be  sufficiently  vain, 
I  doubt  not,  Master  Robert,  at  having  been 
made  the  subject  of  conversation  between  such 
great  men  as  Lamb  and  /  {are  likely  to  be).  I 
was  introduced  to  Coleridge,  which  was  a  great 
gratification  to  me.  I  think  him  a  man  of  very 
splendid  abilities  and  animated  feelings.  But 
let  me  whisper  a  word  in  your  ear,  Robert, — 

twenty  Coleridges  could  not  supply  your  loss  to 
9  129 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

me,  if  you  were  to  forsake  me.  So  \{  2X\y  friendly 
interposer  should  come  and  tell  you  I  am  not 
what  I  seem,  and  warn  you  against  my  friend- 
ship, beware  of  listening  to  him.  Let  no  sur- 
mises weigh  against  the  decisions  derived  from 
our  personal  intercourse — but  I  have  no  fears, 
I  write  this  with  the  levity  of  perfect  confi- 
dence. It  is  a  [kind  of]  boasting;  you  may 
truly  set  it  down  as  one  of  the  marks  of  my 
love  and  friendship. 

"  Is  there  any  chance  of  my  seeing  you  here, 
Robert?  I  shall  stay  in  Cambridge  almost 
uninterruptedly  till  this  time  twelvemonth,  per- 
haps longer  ;  and  during  that  time  I  hope  you'll 
be  necessitated  to  visit  this  place. 

"  Charles  and  Sophia  (God  bless  them  I)  are 
both  well ;  they  have  not  heard  from  Priscilla 
for  a  long  time — say  in  your  next  how  she 
does.  Remember  me  very  kindly  to  all  your 
Family. 

"  Faiewell — write  soon  and  believe  me, 
"  Your  very  affectionate  Friend, 

"  Thomas  Manning." 

We  may  suppose,  from  Robert's  reply,  that 

this  was  just  the  type  of  encouraging  letter  of 
130 


THOMAS   MANNING  AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

which  he  was  in  need.  "  Your  kind  letter,"  he 
wrote,  "  quite  raised  me  from  the  ground.  .  .  . 
I  feel  more  attached  to  my  family,"  he  said 
later,  "  and" — here  we  see  the  fruit  of  Lamb's 
admonishings — "  I  fully  intend  going  to  the 
Quakers'  meeting  again.  Not  that  my  father 
has  spoken  to  me  of  it,  for  he  behaves  in  the 
most  noble  manner  to  me,  but  I  can  no  longer 
withstand  his  affectionate  solicitude  without 
showing  some  free  gift,  something  which  will 
give  him  great  pleasure  and  which  is  his  right — 
my  sitting  two  hours  on  a  Sunday  under  the  same 
roof  in  silence  "  One  more  quotation  :  "  Every 
pleasure  of  my  life  is  derived  from  my  friends, 
and  without  them  the  most  exquisite  apparent 
delight  would  be  fruitless  and  barren.  They 
are  like  comfortable  warm  huts  in  a  wilderness 
of  misery,  where  the  soul  may  rest  from  its 
toils  and  slumber  in  the  dreams  of  serenity  and 
freshening  peace."  Lamb,  we  now  perceive, 
was  shrewdly  advised  in  telling  Robert  that  he 
must  be  the  next  to  marry.  No  young  man 
was  ever  riper  for  love. 

Lamb's  name  crops  up  at  the  same  time  in 
a  letter  from  Mrs.  Lloyd  to  Robert,  written  in 
London,  where  she  was  staying  with  her  second 
131 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND    THE   LLOYDS 

daughter,  Olivia.  The  date  is  March  i — that 
is  to  say,  "  Third  Month"  1st — 1800,  and  Mrs. 
Lloyd,  having  a  busy  visiting  season  before 
her,  remarks :  "  If  C.  Lamb  pays  his  respects  I 
wish  it  might  be  some  morning  at  Breakfast.  .  .  . 
I  hardly  think  we  shall  have  one  vacant  day." 
A  fortnight  later  Lamb,  writing  to  Manning, 
gave  an  account  of  his  call :  "  Tell  Charles  I 
have  seen  his  mamma,  and  have  almost  fallen 
in  love  with  her^  since  I  mayn't  with  Olivia. 
She  is  so  fine  and  graceful,  a  complete  matron- 
lady-quaker.  She  has  given  me  two  little 
books.  Olivia  grows  a  charming  girl — full  of 
feeling,  and  thinner  than  she  was ;  but  I  have 
not  time  to  fall  in  love." 

With  the  following  letter,  which  belongs  to 
the  spring  or  summer  of  1 800,  Thomas  Man- 
ning passes  from  the  correspondence,  as  we  now 
possess  it : — 

"  Dear  Robert, — You  need  never  apologise 
for  writing  such  letters  as  your  last ;  you  there 
express  yourself  in  a  manner  that  would  in- 
terest and  charm  even  a  stranger  to  you. 
Your  animal  frame  seems  to  vibrate  to  every 

Breeze  that  passes  over  it,  in  all  the  varieties  of 

132 


THOMAS   MANNING  AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

interwoven  harmony.  You  are  'tremblingly 
alive  all  o'er.'  God  forbid  that  you  should 
ever  lose  the  delicacy  of  your  sensibility.  God 
forbid  that  the  rude,  harsh  gusts  of  life  should 
ever  sweep  over  your  soul  without  eliciting  dis- 
cordant emotions.  But  I  hope  the  time  will 
come  when  your  frame  will  lose  some  of  its  pres- 
ent morbid  aptitude  to  vibrate — when  your  mind 
will  become  stronger  and  more  fixed.  You 
must  not  despair  of  seeing  many  happy  days 
yet.  You  will  have  many  bright  gleams  of 
exquisite  lustre  in  this  the  morning  of  your 
life,  and  the  afternoon  will  be  a  settled  sun- 
shine, in  which  you  will  enjoy  more  real 
happiness  than  many,  who  are  less  prone  to 
sensation,  ever  experience  in  all  the  vigour  of 
their  blood. 

"  I  often  picture  to  myself  a  contingency, 
which  most  likely  never  will  take  place,  but 
yet  may,  and  which  I  contemplate  with  a 
strange  fondness  and  delight.  'Tis  of  you  and 
myself  travelling  together  abroad — in  the  South 
of  France,  or  in  Italy,  or  in  Switzerland,  or  in 
some  part  of  Spain.  Tour  susceptibility  and 
my  mathematical  caution  combined  would 
form  an  excellent  travelling  temperament,  I 
133 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

think.  If  there  was  peace  over  Europe,  and 
you  and  I  had  each  of  us  independent  fortunes, 
I  am  sure  I  should  propose  it  to  you.  I  should 
like  to  know  whether  this  idea  pleases  you  as  it 
does  me,  but  I  should  guess  not,  for  which  I 
could  give  most  sage  reasons ;  and  if  I  guessed 
wrong,  I  could  give  most  sage  reasons  again, 
to  account  for  the  erroneousness  of  my  former 
reasons.  In  short,  if  /  should  guess^  it  would  be 
guessing.  Your  brother  Plumstead  is  coming 
to-day  with  Wordsworth  to  dine  with  me.  The 
little  I  saw  of  him,  when  he  passed  through 
Cambridge  before,  had  given  me  a  very  inade- 
quate idea  of  him — indeed,  I  was  just  then  un- 
tuned to  everything  new.  I  now  find  the  resem- 
blance between  him  and  Charles  and  you  much 
stronger  than  I  imagined,  both  in  person  and 
manner.  He  reminds  me  oi  you  perpetually, 
and  indeed,  Robert,  he  is  not  therefore  the  less 
welcome !  In  truth,  I  shall  be  sorry  to  part 
with  him — he  revives  a  train  of  ideas  in  my 
mind  which  I  would  not  break  off  willingly. 
"  Farewell,  my  dear,  my  very  dear 
"  Friend — yr. 
"  Truly,  T.  M." 


«34 


THOMAS   MANNING  AND   ROBERT   LLOYD 

The  suggested  tour  was  never  accomplished, 
although  Manning  himself  left  England  for 
France  two  years  later  in  order  to  study  Chi- 
nese against  his  intended  travels  in  China.  Of 
his  adventures  in  China  and  in  Thibet  this  is 
not  the  place  to  tell. 


«35 


vni 

CHARLES    LAMB    AS    CRITIC 
1800- 1 80 1 

Lamb's  next  letter  to  Robert  Lloyd  was  dated 
July  2,  1800: — 

"  Dear  Robert, — My  mind  has  been  so  barren 
and  idle  of  late,  that  I  have  done  nothing.  I 
have  received  many  a  summons  from  you,  and 
have  repeatedly  sat  down  to  write,  and  broke 
off  from  despair  of  sending  you  anything 
worthy  your  acceptance.  I  have  had  such  a 
deadness  about  me.  Man  delights  not  me  nor 
woman  neither.  I  impute  it  in  part,  or  alto- 
gether, to  the  stupefying  effect  which  continued 
fine  weather  has  upon  me.  I  want  some  rains, 
or  even  snow  and  intense  cold  winter  nights,  to 
bind  me  to  my  habitation,  and  make  me  value 
it  as  a  home — a  sacred  character  which  it  has 
not  attained  with  me  hitherto.  I  cannot  read 
or  write  when  the  sun  shines  :  I  can  only  walk. 

"  I  must  tell  you  that,  since  I  wrote  last  I 
136 


CHARLES   LAMB   AS   CRITIC 

have  been  two  days  at  Oxford  on  a  visit  (long 
put  off)  to  Gutch's  family  (my  landlord).  I 
was  much  gratified  with  the  Colleges  and  Li- 
braries and  what  else  of  Oxford  I  could  see  in 
so  short  a  time.  In  the  All  Souls'  Library  is 
a  fine  head  of  Bishop  Taylor,  which  was  one 
great  inducement  to  my  Oxford  visit.  In  the 
Bodleian  are  many  Portraits  of  illustrious  Dead, 
the  only  species  of  painting  I  value  at  a  farthing. 
But  an  indubitable  good  Portrait  of  a  great  man 
is  worth  a  pilgrimage  to  go  and  see.  Gutch's 
family  is  a  very  fine  one,  consisting  of  well- 
grown  sons  and  daughters,  and  all  likely  and 
well-favour'd.  What  is  called  a  Happy  family 
— that  is,  according  to  my  interpretation,  a  nu- 
merous assemblage  of  young  men  and  women, 
all  fond  of  each  other  to  a  certain  degree,  and 
all  happy  together,  but  where  the  very  number 
forbids  any  two  of  them  to  get  close  enough 
to  each  other  to  share  secrets  and  be  friends. 
That  close  intercourse  can  only  exist  (com- 
monly, I  think,)  in  a  family  of  two  or  three. 
I  do  not  envy  large  families.  The  fratemal 
affection  by  diffusion  and  multi-participation  is 
ordinarily  thin  and  weak.  They  don't  get  near 
enough  to  each  other. 

137 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"  I  expected  to  have  had  an  account  of 
Sophia's  being  brought  to  bed  before  this  time  ; 
but  I  remain  in  confidence  that  you  will  send 
me  the  earliest  news.     I  hope  it  will  be  happy. 

"  Coleridge  is  settled  at  Keswick,  so  that  the 
probability  is  that  he  will  be  once  again  united 
with  your  Brother.  Such  men  as  he  and 
Wordsworth  would  exclude  solitude  in  the 
Hebrides  or  Thule. 

"  Pray  have  you  seen  the  New  Edition  of 
Burns,  including  his  posthumous  works'?  I 
want  very  much  to  get  a  sight  of  it,  but  cannot 
afford  to  buy  it,  my  Oxford  Journey,  though 
very  moderate,  having  pared  away  all  super- 
fluities. 

"  Will  you  accept  of  this  short  letter,  accom- 
panied with  professions  of  deepest  regard  for 
you? 

"  Yours  unalterably, 

"  C.  Lamb."^ 

'  It  may  have  been  during  this  visit  to  Oxford  that  Lamb  met  his 
"Gentle  Giantess" — the  widow  Blacket,  "  the  largest  female  he  ever 
had  the  pleasure  of  beholding."  "With  more  than  man's  bulk 
[wrote  Elia],  her  humours  and  occupations  are  eminently  feminine. 
She  sighs, — being  six  foot  high.  She  languisheth, — being  two  feet 
wide.  She  worketh  slender  sprigs  upon  the  delicate  muslin, — her 
fingers  being  capable  of  moulding  a  Colossus.  She  sippeth  her  wine 
138 


CHARLES   LAMB   AS   CRITIC 

Gutch,  by  the  way,  was  more  than  Lamb's 
landlord;  he  was  his  old  schoolfellow  at  Christ's 
Hospital.  At  this  period  Lamb  and  his  sister 
occupied  rooms  in  Gutch's  house  in  South- 
ampton Buildings,  Chancery  Lane. 

The  reference  to  Sophia  Lloyd,  then  living 
with  her  husband  at  Olton  Green,  Mr.  Lloyd's 
farm,  near  Birmingham,  previous  to  their  de- 
parture for  Ambleside,  needs  no  explanation. 
Her  expectancy  was  realised  a  few  weeks  later, 
when  she  gave  birth  to  a  boy,  whom  they 
named  Grosvenor.  Lamb  wrote  thus  to  Man- 
ning on  the  subject :  "  I  suppose  you  have 
heard  of  Sophia  Lloyd's  good  fortune,  and 
paid  the  customary  compliments  to  the  parents. 
Heaven  keep  the  new-born  infant  from  star 
blasting  and  moon  blasting,  from  epilepsy, 
marasmus,  and  the  devil  I  May  he  live  to  see 
many  days,  and  they  good  ones ;  some  friends, 


out  of  her  glass  daintily, — her  capacity  being  that  of  a  tun  of  Heidel- 
berg. She  goeth  mincingly  with  those  feet  of  her's,  whose  solidity 
need  not  fear  the  black  ox's  pressure.  Softest  and  largest  of  thy  sex, 
adieu  !  By  what  parting  attribute  may  I  salute  thee,  last  and  best  of 
the  Titanesses, — Ogress,  fed  with  milk  instead  of  blood  ;  not  least,  or 
least  handsome,  among  Oxford's  stately  structures, — Oxford,  who,  in 
its  deadest  time  of  vacation,  can  never  properly  be  said  to  be  empty, 
having  thee  to  fill  it." 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

and  they  pretty  regular  correspondents  !  with  as 
much  wit  and  wisdom  as  will  eat  their  bread 
and  cheese  together  under  a  poor  roof  without 
quarrelling !  as  much  goodness  as  will  earn 
heaven.  Here  I  must  leave  off,  my  bene- 
dictory powers  failing  me." 

Lamb's  prediction  concerning  Coleridge  and 
a  reconciliation  was  not  immediately  realised. 
Earlier  in  the  year  Coleridge  had  assured 
Southey  that  he  would  not  reopen  intercourse 
with  Charles  Lloyd ;  and  later,  in  December, 
when  the  Lloyds  had  settled  at  Ambleside,  we 
find  him  writing  to  Poole  that  though  his  old 
pupil  is  a  neighbour,  he  "  shall  not  see  him." 
By  degrees,  however,  he  was  persuaded,  possi- 
bly through  the  influence  of  Dorothy  Words- 
worth, to  be  again  friendly,  and  there  is  a 
record  of  Coleridge  spending  a  night  at  Old 
Brathay,  whither  Charles  Lloyd  moved  from 
Ambleside,  in  the  summer  of  1802. 

Of  Lloyd's  intimacy  with  Wordsworth  we 

have  a  hint  in  a  letter  from  Lamb  to  Coleridge, 

written  in  August,  1800,  wherein  he  alludes  to 

Wordsworth's   tragedy  "  The  Borderers,"  and 

his  desire  to  see  it.     "  Manning  has  read  it," 

he  adds, "  so  has  Lloyd,  and  all  Lloyd's  family ; 
140 


CHARLES   LAMB   AS    CRITIC 

but  I  could  not  get  him  to  betray  his  trust  by 
giving  me  a  sight  of  it.  Lloyd  is  sadly  deficient 
in  some  of  those  virtuous  vices." 

In  a  letter  to  Manning,  in  October,  1800, 
Lamb  wrote  : — "  Robert  Lloyd  is  come  to 
town.  Priscilla  meditates  going  to  see  *  Pi- 
zarro'  at  Drury  Lane  to-night  (from  her 
uncle's),  under  cover  of  coming  to  dine  with  me 
.  .  .  heu  tempora  !  heu  mores ! — I  have  barely 
time  to  finish,  as  I  expect  her  and  Robin 
every  minute."  An  account  of  these  London 
experiences,  sent  by  Robert  to  his  father,  con- 
tains, it  is  amusing  to  note,  no  mention  of  the 
play.  "  My  dear  Parents,"  he  said,  "  Priscilla 
wrote  you  word  of  my  arrival  here.  I  am 
well,  and  so  is  my  sister.  At .  present  I  have 
been  in  Tower  Street,  with  a  few  digressions 
to  my  friend  Lamb.  Next  second  day  I  shall 
call  on  R.  Rarclay.  I  intend  going  with  Pris- 
cilla to  Captain  Bevan's ;  he  spoke  very  kindly 
to  me  at  Gracechurch  meeting  to-day." 

In   the    following    month    we    find    Lamb 

telling  Manning  of  an  invitation  from  Charles 

Lloyd  to  spend  a  month  at  Ambleside,  which 

he  was   disposed  to  accept.     As  it  happened, 

however,  he  was  unable  to  do  so.     Not  until 
141 


CHARLES    LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

the  summer  of  1802,  when  they  knocked  un- 
expectedly at  Coleridge's  door,  did  Charles  and 
Mary  Lamb  see  the  Lakes. 

Lamb's  next  letter  to  Robert  was  a  piece  of 
the  true  Elia,  enshrining  eulogies  of  two  of  his 
loves — Izaak  Walton  and  London.     Thus : — 

"  Dear  Robert, — I  shall  expect  you  to  bring 
me  a  brimful  account  of  the  pleasure  which 
Walton  has  given  you,  when  you  come  to 
town.  It  must  square  with  your  mind.  The 
delightful  innocence  and  healthfulness  of  the 
Angler's  mind  will  have  blown  upon  yours  like 
a  Zephyr.  Don't  you  already  feel  your  spirit 
filled  with  the  scenes '? — the  banks  of  rivers — 
the  cowslip  beds — the  pastoral  scenes — the  neat 
alehouses — and  hostesses  and  milkmaids,  as  far 
exceeding  Virgil  and  Pope,  as  the  *  Holy  Liv- 
ing' is  beyond  Thomas  a  Kempis.  Are  not  the 
eating  and  drinking  joys  painted  to  the  Life  ? 
Do  they  not  inspire  you  with  an  immortal 
hunger*?  Are  not  you  ambitious  of  being 
made  an  Angler  *?  What  edition  have  you  got  ? 
Is  it  Hawkins's,  with  plates  of  Piscator,  &c.  *? 
That  sells  very  dear.     I  have  only  been  able  to 

purchase  the  last  edition  without  the  old  Plates 
142 


CHARLES   LAMB   AS   CRITIC 

which  pleased  my  childhood ;  the  plates  being 
worn  out,  and  the  old  Edition  difficult  and  ex- 
pensive to  procure.  The  '  Complete  Angler' 
is  the  only  Treatise  written  in  Dialogues  that  is 
worth  a  halfpenny.  Many  elegant  dialogues 
have  been  written  (such  as  Bishop  Berkeley's 
'  Minute  Philosopher'),  but  in  all  of  them  the 
Interlocutors  are  merely  abstract  arguments 
personify'd ;  not  living  dramatic  characters,  as 
in  Walton,  where  every  thing  is  alive ;  the  fishes 
are  absolutely  charactered ;  and  birds  and  ani- 
mals are  as  interesting  as  men  and  women.^ 

'  Here  might  be  placed  a  few  sentences  from  a  eulogy  of  Izaak 
Walton  by  the  late  Mr.  T.  E.  Brown  (which  was  printed  in  the 
National  Obser-ver  of  October  14,  1 893)  as  being  curiously  worthy  of 
standing  beside  Lamb's  praise  : — 

"  The  book  is  as  full  of  delights  as  a  meadow  of  cowslips.  Who 
can  forget  the  tenderness  and  gentle  reverence  with  which  Walton 
speaks  of  'old  Oliver  Henley'  ('  now  with  God')  ?  The  otter  hunt 
— what  brilliance  of  atmosphere  !  what  life  !  The  dogs  are  Ring- 
wood,  Kilbuck,  Sweetlips.  Ringwood  does  the  business.  And  the 
Fishing  proper  begins,  as  reason  would  have  it,  with  a  chubb.  Viator 
has  a  try  for  a  chubb.  The  directions  for  dressing  this  chubb  are  like 
a  passage  from  Leviticus. 

*'  And  then  they  aspire  to  trout.  I  suppose  the  meeting  with  the 
milkmaid,  and  the  account  of  the  supper  that  follows,  can  hardly  be 
paralleled  in  our  literature. 

"  The  frog-bait,  though,  is  the  locus  classicus.  Good,  kind  old  soul 
was  Walton  ;  but  could  you  have  trusted  him  with  a  baby,  for  instance, 
if  some  one  had  told  him  that  a  bit  of  a  baby  was  a  capital  bait  for 
barbel?" 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

"  I  need  not  be  at  much  pains  to  get  the 
'  Holy  Livings.'  We  can  procure  them  in  ten 
minutes'  search  at  any  stall  or  shop  in  London. 
By  your  engaging  one  for  Priscilla,  it  should 
seem  she  will  be  in  Town — is  that  the  case  *? 
I  thought  she  was  fix'd  at  the  Lakes. 

"  I  perfectly  understand  the  nature  of  your 
solitarines  at  Birm.,  and  wish  I  could  divide 
myself, '  like  a  bribed  haunch,'  between  London 
and  it.^  But  courage  I  you  will  soon  be  eman- 
cipated, and  (it  may  be)  have  a  frequent  power 
of  visiting  this  great  place.  Let  them  talk  of 
lakes  and  mountains  and  romantic  dales — all 
that  fantastic  stuff;  give  me  a  ramble  by  night, 
in  the  winter  nights  in  London — the  Lamps  lit 
— the  pavements  of  the  motley  Strand  crowded 
with  to  and  fro  passengers — the  shops  all  bril- 
liant, and  stuffed  with  obliging  customers  and 
obliged  tradesmen — give  me  the  old  bookstalls 
of  London — a  walk  in  the  bright  Piazzas  of 
Covent  Garden.  I  defy  a  man  to  be  dull  in 
such  places — perfect  Mahometan  paradises 
upon  earth !     I  have  lent  out  my  heart  with 

'  Lamb  was  remembering,  not  quite  distinctly,  FalstafF's  remark  to 
Mistress  Ford  (J'hc  Merry  JVi-ves  of  Windior,  Act  v,,  scene  5)  :  "  Di- 
vide me  like  a  bribe  buck,  each  a  haunch." 
144 


CHARLES   LAMB   AS   CRITIC 

usury  to  such  scenes  from  my  childhood  up, 
and  have  cried  with  fulness  of  joy  at  the  mul- 
titudinous scenes  of  Life  in  the  crowded  streets 
of  ever  dear  London.  I  wish  you  could  fix 
here.  I  don't  know  if  you  quite  comprehend 
my  low  Urban  Taste ;  but  depend  upon  it  that 
a  man  of  any  feeling  will  have  given  his  heart 
and  his  love  in  childhood  and  in  boyhood  to  any 
scenes  where  he  has  been  bred,  as  well  to  dirty 
streets  (and  smoky  walls  as  they  are  called)  as  to 
green  lanes,  '  where  live  nibbling  sheep,'  and  to 
the  everlasting  hills  and  the  Lakes  and  ocean. 
A  mob  of  men  is  better  than  a  flock  of  sheep, 
and  a  crowd  of  happy  faces  justling  into  the 
playhouse  at  the  hour  of  six  is  a  more  beauti- 
ful spectacle  to  man  than  the  shepherd  driving 
his  '  silly'  sheep  to  fold.  Come  to  London  and 
learn  to  sympathise  with  my  unrural  notions.' 

*  Lamb's  "  Letters'*  contain  three  variations  upon  this  theme.  To 
Manning  he  wrote  (November  28,  1800)  : — "Streets,  streets,  streets, 
markets,  theatres,  churches,  Covent  Gardens,  shops  sparkling  with 
pretty  faces  of  industrious  milliners,  neat  sempstresses,  ladies  cheap- 
ening, gentlemen  behind  counters  lying,  authors  in  the  street  with 
spectacles,  George  Dyers  (you  may  know  them  by  their  gait),  lamps  lit 
at  night,  pastry-cooks'  and  silversmiths'  shops,  beautiful  (Quakers  of 
Pentonville,  noise  of  coaches,  drowsy  cry  of  mechanic  watchmen  at 
night,  with  bucks  reeling  home  drunk ;  if  you  happen  to  wake  at 
midnight,  cries  of 'Fire! 'and  'Stop  tliief!' j  inns  of  court,  with 
10  145 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"  Wordsworth  has  published  a  second  vol. — 
*  Lyrical  Ballads.'  Most  of  them  very  good, 
but  not  so  good  as  first  vol.  What  more  can 
I  tell  you?  I  believe  I  told  you  I  have 
been  to  see  Manning.  He  is  a  dainty  chiel. — 
A  man  of  great  Power — an  enchanter  almost. 
— Far  beyond  Coleridge  or  any  man  in  power 


their  learned  air,  and  halls  and  butteries,  just  like  Cambridge  colleges; 
old  bookstalls,  '  Jeremy  Taylors,'  '  Burtons  on  Melancholy',  and  '  Re- 
ligio  Medicis,'  on  every  stall.  These  are  thy  pleasures,  O  London  !  with 
thy  many  sins."  To  Wordsworth — January  30,  1801 — Lamb  wrote 
to  much  the  same  effect,  but  less  piquantly  :  "The  wonder  of  these 
sights,"  he  remarked  at  the  end  of  the  catalogue,  "impels  me  into 
night  walks  about  her  crowded  streets,  and  I  often  shed  tears  in  the 
motley  Strand  from  fulness  of  joy  at  so  much  life."  And  again  to 
Manning,  at  about  the  time  of  the  letter  to  Robert: — "By  my  new 
plan,  I  shall  be  as  airy,  up  four  pair  of  stairs,  as  in  the  country ;  and 
in  a  garden,  in  the  midst  of  enchanting  (more  than  Mahometan  para- 
dise) London,  whose  dirtiest  drab-frequented  alley,  and  her  lowest  bow- 
ing tradesman  I  would  not  exchange  for  Skiddaw,  Helvellyn,  James, 
Walter,  and  the  parson  into  the  bargain.  O  her  lamps  of  a  night ! 
her  rich  goldsmiths,  print-shops,  toy-shops,  mercers,  hardwaremen, 
pastry-cooks,  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  the  Strand,  Exeter  Change, 
Charing  Cross,  with  the  man  upon  a  black  horse  !  Where  are  thy 
gods,  O  London  ?  A'nt  you  mightily  moped  on  the  banks  of  the  Cam  ? 
Had  you  not  better  come  and  set  up  here  ?  You  can't  think  what  a 
difference.  All  the  streets  and  pavements  are  pure  gold,  I  warrant 
you.  At  least,  I  know  an  alchemy  that  turns  her  mud  into  that 
metal, — a  mind  that  loves  to  be  at  home  in  crowds."  Of  the  four 
London  letters  it  must  be  conceded  that  that  to  Robert  Lloyd  is  the 
best. 

146 


CHARLES   LAMB  AS   CRITIC 

of  impressing — when  he  gets  you  alone,  he 
can  act  the  wonders  of  Egypt.  Only  he  is 
lazy,  and  does  not  always  put  forth  all  his 
strength ;  if  he  did,  I  know  no  man  of  genius 
at  all  comparable  to  him. 

"  Yours  as  ever, 

"  C.  L. 

"February  7,  1801." 

It  is  now  that  we  begin  rightly  to  realise 
what  a  truly  worthy  young  man  Robert  Lloyd 
was.  Lovers  of  good  literature  owe  him  a 
debt  which  it  would  be  hard  to  discharge ; 
firstly,  for  having  extracted  precious  words 
from  one  of  the  choicest  minds  on  England's 
roll,  and  secondly,  for  having  preserved  them. 
Thus  did  Robert  Lloyd  incite  Charles  Lamb 
to  write  of  Jeremy  Taylor : — 

"  Fletcher's  Purple  Island  is  a  tedious  Alle- 
gory of  the  Parts  of  the  Human  Body.  I 
would  not  advise  you  to  lay  out  six  pence  upon 
it.  It  is  not  the  work  of  Fletcher,  the  Co- 
adjutor of  Beaumont,  but  one  Phineas,  a  kins- 
man of  his. 

"  If  by  the  work  of  Bishop  Taylor,  whose 
147 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Title  you  have  not  given  correctly,  you  mean 
his  Contemplations  on  the  State  of  Man  in 
this  Life  and  that  which  is  to  come,  I  dare 
hope  you  will  join  with  me  in  believing  it  to 
be  spurious.  The  suspicious  circumstance  of 
its  being  a  posthumous  work,  with  the  total 
dissimilarity  in  style  to  the  genuine  works,  I 
think  evince  that  it  never  was  the  work  of 
Doctor  Jeremy  Taylor,  Late  Lord  Bishop  of 
Down  and  Connor  in  Ireland,  and  Adminis- 
trator of  the  See  of  Dromore ;  such  are  the 
titles  which  his  sounding  title-pages  give  him, 
and  I  love  the  man,  and  I  love  his  para- 
phernalia, and  I  like  to  name  him  with  all  his 
attributions  and  additions.  If  you  are  yet  but 
lightly  acquainted  with  his  real  manner,  take 
up  and  read  the  whole  first  chapter  of  the 
Holy  Dying  ;  in  particular  turn  to  the  first 
paragraph  of  the  2  sect,  of  that  chapter  for  a 
simile  of  a  rose,  or  more  truly  many  similes 
within  simile  ;  for  such  were  the  riches  of  his 
fancy,  that  when  a  beauteous  image  offered, 
before  he  could  stay  to  expand  it  into  all  its 
capacities,  throngs  of  new  coming  images  came 
up,  and  justled    out   the   first,  or   blended  in 

disorder  with  it,  which  imitates  the  order  of 

148 


CHARLES   LAMB   AS   CRITIC 

every  rapid  mind.'  But  read  all  of  the  first 
chapter  by  my  advice ;  and  I  know  I  need  not 
advise  you,  when  you  have  read  it,  to  read  the 
second. 

"  Or  for  another  specimen  (where  so  many 
beauties  crowd,  the  judgment  has  yet  vanity 
enough  to  think  it  can  discern  the  handsomest, 
till  a  second  judgment  and  a  third  ad  infinitum 
start  up  to  disallow  their  elder  brother's  pre- 
tensions) turn  to  the  Story  of  the  Ephesian 
Matron  in  the  second  section  of  the  5th  chap- 
ter of  the  same  Holy  Dying''  (I  still  refer  to  the 
Dying  part,  because  it  contains   better  matter 

'  This  is  the  simile  of  a  rose  :  "  It  is  a  mighty  change  that  is  made 
by  the  death  of  every  person,  and  it  is  visible  to  us  who  are  alive. 
Reckon  but  from  the  sprightfulness  of  youth,  and  the  fair  cheeks  and 
full  eyes  of  childhood,  from  the  vigorousness  and  strong  flexure  of  the 
joints  of  five-and-twenty,  to  the  hollowness  and  dead  paleness,  to  the 
loathsomeness  and  horror,  of  a  three  days'  burial,  and  we  shall  perceive 
the  distance  to  be  very  great  and  very  strange.  But  so  I  have  seen  a 
rose  newly  springing  up  from  the  clefts  of  its  hood,  and,  at  first,  it  was 
fair  as  the  morning,  and  full  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  as  a  lamb's  fleece  j 
but  when  a  ruder  breath  had  forced  open  its  virgin  modesty,  and  dis- 
mantled its  too  youthful  and  unripe  retirements,  it  began  to  put  on 
darkness,  and  to  decline  to  softness  and  the  symptoms  of  a  sickly  age; 
it  bowed  the  head,  and  broke  its  stalk;  and,  at  night,  having  lost 
some  of  its  leaves  and  all  its  beauty,  it  fell  into  the  portion  of  weeds 
and  worn-out  faces.  The  same  is  the  portion  of  every  man  and  every 
woman." 

'Lamb  was  a  little  in  error.     The  passage  is  in  the  eighth  section. 
149 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

than  the  '  Holy  Living,'  which  deals  more  in 
rules  than  illustrations — I  mean  in  comparison 
with  the  other  only,  else  it  has  more  and  more 
beautiful  illustrations — than  any  prose  book 
besides) — read  it  yourself  and  show  it  to  Plum- 
stead  (with  my  Love,  and  bid  him  write  to 
me),  and  ask  him  if  Willy  himself  has  ever 
told  a  story  with  more  circumstances  of  fancy 
and  HUMOUR. 

"  The  paragraph  begins,  '  But  that  which  is 
to  be  faulted,'  and  the  story  not  long  after 
follows.  Make  these  references  while  P.  is 
with  you,  that  you  may  stir  him  up  to  the 
Love  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  and  make  a  convertite 
of  him.  Coleridge  was  the  man  who  first 
solemnly  exhorted  me  to  '  study'  the  works  of 
Dr.  Jeremy  Taylor,  and  I  have  had  reason  to 
bless  the  hour  in  which  he  did  it.  Read  as 
many  of  his  works  as  you  can  get.  I  will 
assist  you  in  getting  them  when  we  go  a  stall 
hunting  together  in  London,  and  it's  odds  if  we 
don't  get  a  good  Beaumt.  and  Fletcher  cheap. 

"  Bp.  Taylor  has  more  and  more  beautiful 

imagery,  and    (what  is   more  to  a  Lover  of 

Willy)  more   knowledge   and   description    of 

human  life  and  manners  than  any  prose  book 

150 


CHARLES    LAMB   AS    CRITIC 

in  the  language :  he  has  more  delicacy  and 
sweetness  than  any  mortal,  the  '  gentle'  Shakes- 
pear  hardly  excepted, — his  similies  and  allu- 
sions are  taken,  as  the  bees  take  honey,  from 
all  the  youngest,  greenest,  exquisitest  parts  of 
nature,  from  plants,  and  flowers,  and  fruit, 
young  boys  and  virgins,  from  little  children 
perpetually,  from  sucking  infants,  babies'  smiles, 
roses,  gardens, — his  imagination  was  a  spacious 
Garden,  where  no  vile  insects  could  crawl  in ; 
his  apprehension  a  '  Court'  where  no  foul 
thoughts  kept  '  leets  and  holydays.' 

Snail  and  worm  give  no  offence. 
Newt  nor  blind  worm  be  not  seen. 
Come  not  near  our  fairy  queen. 

You  must  read  Bishop  Taylor  with  allow- 
ances for  the  subjects  on  which  he  wrote,  and 
the  age  in  which.  You  may  skip  or  patiently 
endure  his  tedious  discourses  on  rites  and  cere- 
monies, Baptism,  and  the  Eucharist,  the  Clerical 
function,  and  the  antiquity  of  Episcopacy,  a 
good  deal  of  which  are  inserted  in  works  not 
purely  controversial ;  his  polemical  works  you 
may  skip  altogether,  unless  you  have  a  taste 
for  the  exertions  of  vigorous  reason  and  subtle 
151 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

distinguishing  on  uninteresting  topics.  Such 
of  his  works  as  you  should  begin  with,  to  get 
a  taste  for  him  (after  which  your  Love  will 
lead  you  to  his  Polemical  and  drier  works,  as 
Love  led  Leander '  over  boots'  knee-deep  thro' 
the  Hellespont),  but  read  first  the  Holy  Living 
and  Dying,  and  his  Life  of  Christ  and  Ser- 
mons, both  in  folio.  And,  above  all,  try  to 
get  a  beautiful  little  tract  on  the  '  Measures 
and  offices  of  Friendship,'  printed  with  his 
opuscula  duodecimo,  and  also  at  the  end  of  his 
Polemical  Discourses  in  folio.  Another  thing 
you  will  observe  in  Bp.  Taylor,  without  which 
consideration  you  will  do  him  injustice.  He 
wrote  to  different  classes  of  people.  His  Holy 
Living  and  Dying  and  Life  of  Christ  were  de- 
signed and  have  been  used  as  popular  books 
of  family  Devotion,  and  have  been  thumbed 
by  old  women,  and  laid  about  in  the  window 
seats  of  old  houses  in  great  families,  like  the 
Bible,  and  the  '  Queene-like-Closet  or  rare  boke 
of  Recipes  in  medicine  and  cookery,  fitted  to 
all  capacities.' 

"  Accordingly  in  these  the  fancy  is  perpetually 
applied  to ;  any  slight  conceit,  allusion,  or  an- 
alogy, any  '  prettiness,'  a  story  true  or  false, 

»52 


CHARLES   LAMB   AS   CRITIC 

serves  for  an  argument  adapted  to  women  and 
young  persons,  and  '  incompetent  judgments ;' 
whereas  the  Liberty  of  Prophecy  (a  book  in 
your  father's  bookcase)  is  a  series  of  severe 
and  masterly  reasoning,  fitted  to  great  Clerks  and 
learned  Fathers,  with  no  more  of  Fancy  than 
is  subordinate  and  ornamental. — Such  various 
powers  had  the  Bishop  of  Down  and  Connor, 
Administrator  of  the  See  of  Dromore  I 

"  My  theme  and  my  story  I 

"  Farewell, 
"  C.  Lamb. 

"April  6,  1 80 1." 

It  is  magnificent.  Lamb  never  wrote  more 
glowingly.  In  his  next  letter,  which  is  un- 
dated, he  returned  to  the  Bishop.  Robert  seems 
to  have  replied  to  the  above  letter  by  asking 
Lamb  why  he  did  not  himself  make  a  selection 
of  Jeremy  Taylor's  "beauties."  Lamb  was 
properly  indignant : — 

"  To    your    Inquiry   respecting   a   selection 

from  Bp.  Taylor  I  answer — it  cannot  be  done, 

and  if  it  could  it  would  not  take  with  John 

Bull.     It  cannot  be  done,  for  who  can  disen- 

153 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

tangle  and  unthread  the  rich  texture  of  Nature 
and  Poetry,  sewn  so  thick  into  a  stout  coat 
of  theology,  without  spoiling  both  lace  and 
coat?  How  beggarly  and  how  bald  do  even 
Shakespeare's  Princely  Pieces  look  when  thus 
violently  divorced  from  connection  and  circum- 
stance !  When  we  meet  with  To  be  or  not  to 
be,  or  Jacques'  moralisings  upon  the  Deer,  or 
Brutus  and  Cassius'  quarrel  and  reconciliation^ 
— in  an  Enfield  Speaker,  or  in  Elegant  Extracts, 
— how  we  stare,  and  will  scarcely  acknowledge 
to  ourselves  (what  we  are  conscious  we  feel)  that 
they  are  flat  and  have  no  power.  Something 
exactly  like  this  have  I  experienced  when  I 
have  picked  out  similes  and  stars  from  Holy 
Dying  and  shown  them  per  j<?,  as  you'd  show 
specimens  of  minerals  or  pieces  of  rock.  Com- 
pare the  grand  effect  of  the  Star-paved  firma- 
ment, and  imagine  a  boy  capable  of  picking  out 
those  pretty  twinklers  one  by  one  and  playing 
at  chuck-farthing  with  them.  Everything  in 
heaven  and  earth,  in  man  and  in  story,  in 
books  and  in  fancy,  acts  by  Confederacy,  by 
juxtaposition,  by  circumstance  and  place. 
Consider  a  fine  family  (if  I  were  not  writing 
to  you  I  might  instance  your  own)  of  sons  and 
154 


CHARLES   LAMB   AS   CRITIC 

daughters,  with  a  respectable  father  and  a 
handsome  mother  at  their  heads,  all  met  in  one 
house,  and  happy  round  one  table.  Earth 
cannot  show  a  more  lovely  and  venerable  sight, 
such  as  the  Angels  in  heaven  might  lament 
that  in  their  country  there  is  no  marrying  or 
giving  in  marriage.  Take  and  split  this  Body 
into  individuals — show  the  separate  caprices, 
vagaries,  &c.,  of  Charles,  Rob,  or  Plum,  one  a 
Quaker,  another  a  Churchman.  The  eldest 
daughter  seeking  a  husband  out  of  the  pale  of 
parental  faith — another  warping,  perhaps — the 
father  a  prudent,  circumspective,  do-me-good 
sort  of  a  man  blest  with  children  whom  no 
ordinary  rules  can  circumscribe.  I  have  not 
room  for  all  particulars — but  just  as  this  happy 
and  venerable  Body  of  a  family  loses  by  split- 
ting and  considering  individuals  too  nicely,  so 
it  is  when  we  pick  out  Best  Bits  out  of  a  great 
writer.  'Tis  the  sum  total  of  his  mind  which 
affects  us. 

"  C.  L." 

For  the   sake  of  continuity  the  letter   has 
been  transposed.     In  the  original,  the  two  para- 
graphs that  follow  came  first : — 
155 


CHARLES    LAMB  AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"  I  am  not  dead  nor  asleep.  But  Manning 
is  in  town,  and  Coleridge  is  in  town,  and  I  am 
making  a  thorough  alteration  in  the  structure 
of  my  play  for  Publication.  My  brain  is  over- 
wrought with  variety  of  worldly-intercourse. 
I  have  neither  time  nor  mind  for  scribbling. 
Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
Death? 

"  Only  continue  to  write  and  to  believe  that 
when  the  Hour  comes  I  shall  strike  like  Jack 
of  the  Clock,  id  esl,  I  shall  once  more  become 
a  regular  correspondent  of  Robert  and  Plum- 
stead.  How  is  the  benevolent,  loud-talking, 
Shakspere-loving  Brewer  V 

The  play  was  "  John  Woodvil,"  but  the 
"  benevolent,  loud-talking,  Shakspere-loving 
Brewer"  eludes  research. 

Lamb  continued  critical.  His  next  letter — 
the  last  of  this  little  burst  of  fine  enthusiasm — 
dealt  with  the  acting  of  George  Frederick 
Cooke,  who  was  just  then  drawing  crowds  to 
Covent  Garden : — 

"  Cooke  in  '  Richard  the  Third'  is  a  perfect 

caricature.     He  gives  you  the  monster  Richard, 
156 


CHARLES    LAMB   AS    CRITIC 

but  not  the  man  Richard.  Shakespear's  bloody 
character  impresses  you  with  awe  and  deep 
admiration  of  his  witty  parts,  his  consummate 
hypocrisy,  and  indefatigable  prosecution  of  pur- 
pose. You  despise,  detest,  and  loathe  the  cun- 
ning, vulgar,  low  and  fierce  Richard,  which 
Cooke  substitutes  in  his  place.  He  gives  you 
no  other  idea  than  of  a  vulgar  villain,  rejoycing 
in  his  being  able  to  over  reach,  and  not  possess- 
ing that  joy  in  silent  consciousness,  but  be- 
traying it,  like  a  poor  villain,  in  sneers  and  dis- 
tortions of  the  face,  like  a  droll  at  a  country 
fair  :  not  to  add  that  cunning  so  self-betraying 
and  manner  so  vulgar  could  never  have  de- 
ceived the  politic  Buckingham  nor  the  soft 
Lady  Anne :  both  bred  in  courts,  would  have 
turned  with  disgust  from  such  a  fellow.  Not 
but  Cooke  has  -powers;  but  not  of  discrimi- 
nation. His  manner  is  strong,  coarse,  and  vig- 
ourous,  and  well  adapted  to  some  characters. 
But  the  lofty  imagery  and  high  sentiments  and 
high  passions  of  Poetry  come  black  and  prose- 
smoked  from  his  prose  Lips.  I  have  not  seen 
him  in  Over  Reach,  but  from  what  I  remember 
of  the  character,  I  think  he  could  not  have 
chosen  one  more  fit.  I  thought  the  play  a 
157 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

highly  finished  one  when  I  read  it  some  time 
back.  I  remember  a  most  noble  image.  Sir 
Giles,  drawing  his  sword  in  the  last  scene,  says : 

Some  undone  widow  sits  upon  mine  arm. 
And  takes  away  the  use  on't.' 

This  is  horribly  fine,  and  I  am  not  sure  that 
it  did  not  suggest  to  me  my  conclusion  of 
Pride's  Cure  ;^  but  my  imitation  is  miserably 
inferior. 

This  arm  was  busy  in  the  day  of  Naseby : 

'Tis  paralytic  now,  and  knows  no  use  of  weapons. 

Pierre  and  Jaffier  are  the  best  things  in  Ot- 
way.  Belvidera  is  a  poor  Creature,  and  has 
had  more  than  her  due  fame.  Monimia  is  a 
little  better,  but  she  whines.  I  like  Calista  in 
the  Fair  Penitent  better  than  either  of  Otway's 
women.  Lee's  Massacre  of  Paris  is  a  noble 
play,  very  chastely  and  finely  written.  His 
Alexander  is  full  of  that  madness  '  which 
rightly  should  possess  a  poet's  brain.'  (Edipus 
is  also  a  fine  play,  but  less  so  than  these  two. 

•  See  Massinger's  "  New  Way  to  pay  Old  Debts." 
'  "John  Woodvil"  was  at  first  called  "  Pride's  Cure." 


CHARLES   LAMB  AS   CRITIC 

It  is  a  joint  production  of  Lee  and  Dryden. 
All  For  Love  begins  with  uncommon  Spirit,  but 
soon  flags,  and  is  of  no  worth  upon  the  whole. 
The  last  scene  of  Young's  Revenge  is  sublime : 
the  rest  of  it  not  worth  \d} 

"  I  want  to  have  your  opinion  and  Plum- 
stead's  on  Cooke's  '  Richard  the  Third.'  I  am 
possessed  with  an  admiration  of  the  genuine 
Richard,  his  genius,  and  his  mounting  spirit, 
which  no  consideration  of  his  cruelties  can 
depress.  Shakespear  has  not  made  Richard  so 
black  a  Monster  as  is  supposed.  Wherever  he 
is  monstrous,  it  was  to  conform  to  vulgar 
opinion.  But  he  is  generally  a  Man.  Read  his 
most  exquisite  address  to  the  Widowed  Queen 
to  court  her  daughter  for  him — the  topics  of 
maternal  feeling,  of  a  deep  knowledge  of  the 
heart,  are  such  as  no  monster  could  have  sup- 
plied.^   Richard  must  have  felt  before  he  could 

*  Pierre,  Jaffier  and  Belvidera  are  in  Otway's  "Venice  Preserved," 
and  Monimia  is  in  the  same  writer's  "Orphan."  "The  Fair  Peni- 
tent" is  Rowe's  adaptation  of  "The  Fatal  Dowry,"  by  Massinger 
and  Field. 

'  Lamb  refers  to  the  whole  of  Scene  iv.  of  Act  iv.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  he  has  no  prejudice  in  favour  of  any  particular  form  of 
spelling  Shakespeare's  name.  Shakspeare,  Shakespear,  and  Shakspere 
— he  offers  all  three- 

159 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

feign  so  well ;  tho'  ambition  choked  the  good 
seed.  I  think  it  the  most  finished  piece  of 
Eloquence  in  the  world  ;  of  persuasive  oratory 
far  above  Demosthenes,  Burke,  or  any  man,  far 
exceeding  the  courtship  of  Lady  Anne.  Her 
relenting  is  barely  natural,  after  all ;  the  more 
perhaps  S.'s  merit  to  make  impossible  appear 
probable^  but  the  ^een's  consent  (taking  in  all 
the  circumstances  and  topics,  private  and  public, 
with  his  angelic  address,  able  to  draw  the  host 
of  [piece  cut  out  of  letter]  Lucifer),  is  probable ; 
and  [piece  cut  out  of  letter]  resisted  it.  This 
observation  applies  to  many  other  parts.  All 
the  inconsistency  is,  that  Shakespeare's  bet- 
ter genius  was  forced  to  struggle  against  the 
prejudices  which  made  a  monster  of  Richard. 
He  set  out  to  paint  a  monster,  but  his  human 
sympathies  produced  a  man. 

"  Are  you  not  tired  with  all  this  ingenious 
criticism*?     I  am. 

"  Richard  itself  is  totally  metamorphosed  in 
the  wretched  acting  play  of  that  name,  which  you 
will  see :  altered  by  Cibber. 

"  God  bless  you, 

[The  signature  is  cut  off.] 

"July  26,  1 801." 

160 


CHARLES   LAMB   AS   CRITIC 

And  then  came  a  space  of  some  three  years, 
in  which  Lamb  either  wrote  not  at  all  to  his 
young  friend,  or  wrote  nothing  that  has  been 
preserved.  Probably  the  correspondence  ceased, 
for  a  partnership  in  a  printing  and  bookselling 
business  had  been  found  for  Robert  in  Birming- 
ham, and  its  cares  seem  to  have  been  engross- 
ing. 


I6i 


IX 

ROBERT  Lloyd's  marriage 
1804 

We  may  gather  from  references  in  Lamb's 
letters  to  Manning  and  others,  that  during  this 
interval  he  had  occasional  news  of  the  Lloyd 
family;  while  in  the  summer  of  1802,  when  his 
sister  and  he  visited  Coleridge  at  Keswick,  they 
saw  Charles  Lloyd.  But  of  that  meeting  there 
is  no  record  beyond  the  bare  statement. 

Of  Robert  Lloyd  we  have  no  tidings  what- 
ever until  March,  1803,  when,  in  writing  to 
Southey,  Lamb  said :  "  Robert  Lloyd  has  writ- 
ten me  a  masterly  letter,  containing  a  character 
of  his  father.  See  how  different  from  Charles 
he  views  the  old  man !  {Literatim) :  '  My 
father  smokes,  repeats  Homer  in  Greek,  and 
Virgil,  and  is  learning,  when  from  business, 
with  all  the  vigour  of  a  young  man,  Italian. 
He  is,  really,  a  wonderful  man.  He  mixes 
public  and  private  business,  the  intricacies  of 

disordering  life,  with  his  religion  and  devotion. 
162 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   MARRIAGE 

No  one  more  rationally  enjoys  the  romantic 
scenes  of  Nature,  and  the  chit-chat  and  little 
vagaries  of  his  children ;  and,  though  sur- 
rounded with  an  ocean  of  affairs,  the  very  neat- 
ness of  his  most  obscure  cupboard  in  the  house 
passes  not  unnoticed.  I  never  knew  anyone 
view  with  such  clearness,  nor  so  well  satisfied 
with  things  as  they  are,  and  make  such  allow- 
ance for  things  which  must  appear  perfect 
Syriac  to  him.'  By  the  last  [says  Lamb]  he 
means  the  Lloydisms  of  the  younger  branches. 
His  portrait  of  Charles  (exact  as  far  as  he  has 
had  opportunities  of  noting  him)  is  most 
exquisite : — '  Charles  is  become  steady  as  a 
church,  and  as  straightforward  as  a  Roman 
road.  It  would  distract  him  to  mention  any- 
thing that  was  not  as  plain  as  sense  ;  he  seems 
to  have  run  the  whole  scenery  of  life,  and  now 
rests  as  the  formal  precision  of  non-existence,' 
Here  is  genius,  I  think  [says  Lamb  again],  and 
'tis  seldom  a  young  man,  a  Lloyd,  looks  at  a 
father  (so  differing)  with  such  good-nature  while 
he  is  alive." 

And  so  we  come  to  Lamb's  next  letter  to 
Robert,  and  learn  something  more  of  the  young 
man's  employment  during  the  interval.   He  had 
163 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   THE   LLOYDS 

been  falling  in  love.  Lamb  wrote  (with  some 
forgetfulness  of  his  appreciation  of  Robert's 
letter,  passages  from  which  he  had  copied  out 
for  Coleridge,  as  we  have  just  seen) : — 

"  Dear  Robert, — I  received  your  notes  safe, 
and  thank  you  for  them.  It  seems  you  are 
about  to  be  married.  Joy  to  you  and  uninter- 
rupted satisfaction  in  that  state.  But  who  is 
the  Lady  ?  It  is  the  character  of  your  letters 
that  you  omit  facts,  dates,  names,  and  matter, 
and  describe  nothing  but  feelings,  in  which,  as 
I  cannot  always  partake,  as  being  more  intense 
in  degree  or  different  in  kind  from  my  own 
tranquil  ones,  I  cannot  always  well  tell  how  to 
reply.  Your  dishes  are  too  much  sauced  and 
spiced  and  flavoured  for  me  to  suppose  that 
you  can  relish  my  plain  meats  and  vulgar  ali- 
ment. Still,  Robert,  if  I  cannot  always  send 
you  of  the  same,  they  have  a  smack  and  a 
novelty,  a  Robert-ism  about  them,  that  make 
them  a  dainty  stimulus  to  my  palate  at  times. 
I  have  little  to  tell  you  of  You  are  mistaken, 
I  am  disengaged  from  all  newspaper  connex- 
ions, and  breathe  a  freer  air  in  consequence.     I 

was   bound,  like  Gulliver,  in  a  multitude  of 

164 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   MARRIAGE 

little  chains,  which,  by  quotidian  leasing  swelled 
to  a  rack  and  a  gibbet  in  the  year's  account.  I 
am  poorer  but  happier.  Your  three  pounds 
came  seasonably,  but  I  doubt  whether  I  am 
fairly  entitled  to  them  as  a  debt. 

"  I  am  obliged  to  break  off  here,  and  would 
not  send  this  unfinished,  but  that  you  might 
otherwise  be  uneasy  about  the  moneys. 

"  Am  I  ever  to  see  you  ?  for  it  is  like  letters 
to  the  dead,  or  for  a  friend  to  write  to  his  friend 
in  the  Fortunate  Isles,  or  the  Moon,  or  at  the 
Antipodes,  to  address  a  line  to  ONE  in  War- 
wickshire that  I  am  never  to  see  in  London.  I 
shall  lose  the  very  face  of  Robert  by  disuse,  and 
I  question,  if  I  were  a  painter,  if  I  could  now 
paint  it  from  memory. 

"  I  could  tell  you  many  things,  but  you  are 

so  spiritual  and  abstracted,  that  I  fear  to  insult 

you  with  tidings  of  this  world.    But  may  your 

approaching  husband-hood  humanise  you.     I 

think  I  see  a  dawn.     I  am  sure  joy  is  rising 

upon  you,  and  I  stand  a  tiptoe  to  see  the  sun 

ascending  till  it  gets  up  and  up,  and  *  while  a 

man  tells  the  story,'  shows  at  last  a  fair  face 

and  a  full  light.     God  bless  you,  Robt., 

"Tuesday,  March  13,  1804."  "  C.  L. 

165 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

The  Lady  was  Hannah  Hart,  a  Quakeress, 
the  daughter  of  Francis  Hart,  banker,  of  Not- 
tingham ;  and  she  seems  to  have  been  a  model 
wife.  From  the  evidence  of  a  bundle  of  letters 
written  by  Robert  Lloyd  during  his  courtship 
it  can  be  said  that  he  wooed  her  on  a  high, 
almost  a  transcendental,  plane.  To  read  docu- 
ments so  intimate  is  not  a  congenial  task,  but 
a  biographer  must  take  his  material  wherever 
he  can.  The  letters  in  question  are  distin- 
guished by  none  of  the  acumen  and  literary 
skill  which  Lamb  admired  in  Robert's  portraits 
of  the  two  Charles  Lloyds,  nor  have  they  any 
of  the  pretty  endearments  and  private  tender- 
nesses in  which  love  letters  are  often  so  wealthy : 
rather  are  they  rhapsodic  and  rhetorical.  One 
interesting  fact  which  they  reveal  is  that  Rob- 
ert had  joined  the  militia,  a  step  suggesting 
that  his  break  with  Quakerism  had  been  com- 
pleted. The  fact  is,  however,  that  he  returned 
to  the  fold. 

Robert  was  married  in  the  Castle  Dunnington 

Meeting-house,  in  Leicestershire,  on  August  2, 

1804,  and  with  this  marriage  in  particular  and 

marriages  in  general  was  Lamb's  next  letter 

occupied.     The  date  is  September   13,  1804, 
166 


ROBERT  LLOYD'S   MARRIAGE 

and  it  contains  a  passage  in  Elia's  best  manner 
on  the  lenitives  of  the  single  state : — 

"Dear  Robert, — I  was  startled  in  a  very 
pleasant  manner  by  the  contents  of  your  let- 
ter. It  was  like  your  good  self  to  take  so 
handsome  an  opportunity  of  renewing  an 
old  friendship.  I  thank  you  kindly  for  your 
offers  to  bring  me  acquainted  with  Mrs.  LI. 
I  cannot  come  now,  but  assuredly  I  will 
some  time  or  other,  to  see  how  this  new  rela- 
tion sits  upon  you.  I  am  naturally  shy  of 
new  faces ;  but  the  Lady  who  has  chosen 
my  old  friend  Robert  cannot  have  a  repelling 
one.  Assure  her  of  my  sincere  congratula- 
tions and  friendly  feelings.  Mary  joins  in 
both  with  me,  and  considers  herself  as  only 
left  out  of  your  kind  invitation  by  some 
LAPSUS  STYLI.  We  have  already  had  all 
the  holydays  we  can  have  this  year.  We  have 
been  spending  our  usual  summer  month  at 
Richmond,  from  which  place  we  traced  the 
banks  of  the  old  Thames  for  ten  and  twenty 
miles,  in  daily  walks  or  rides,  and  found  beauties 
which  may  compare  with  Ulswater  and  Win- 
dermere. We  visited  Windsor,  Hampton,  &c., 
167 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

&c. — but  this  is  a  deviation  from  the  subject 
with  which  I  began  my  letter. 

"  Some  day  I  certainly  shall  come  and  see 
you  in  your  new  light ;  no  longer  the  restless 
(but  good)  [?  single]  Robert ;  but  now  the 
staid,  sober  (and  not  less  good)  married  Robert. 
And  how  does  Plumstead,  the  impetuous, 
take  your  getting  the  start  of  him*?  When 
will  he  subside  into  matrimony?  Priscilla  has 
taken  a  long  time  indeed  to  think  about  it.  I 
will  suppose  that  her  first  choice  is  now  her 
final ;  though  you  do  not  expressly  say  that  she 
is  to  be  a  Wordsworth.  I  wish  her,  and  dare 
promise  her,  all  happiness. 

"All  these  new  nuptials  do  not  make  me 
unquiet  in  the  perpetual  prospect  of  celibacy. 
There  is  a  quiet  dignity  in  old  bachelorhood,  a 
leisure  from  cares,  noise,  &c.,  an  enthronisation 
upon  the  armed-chair  of  a  man's  feeling  that  he 
may  sit,  walk,  read,  unmolested,  to  none  ac- 
countable— but  hush !  or  I  shall  be  torn  in 
pieces  like  a  churlish  Orpheus  by  young  mar- 
ried women  and  bride-maids  of  Birmingham. 
The  close  is  this,  to  every  man  that  way 
of  life,  which  in  his  election  is  best.  Be  as 
happy  in  yours  as  I  am  determined  to  be  in 

i6S 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   MARRIAGE 

mine,  and  we  shall  strive  lovingly  who  shall 
sing  best  the  praises  of  matrimony,  and  the 
praises  of  singleness. 

"  Adieu,  my  old  friend  in  a  new  character, 
and  believe  me  that  no  '  wounds'  have  pierced 
our  friendship  ;  only  a  long  want  of  seeing  each 
other  has  disfurnished  us  of  topics  on  which  to 
talk.  Is  not  your  new  fortunes  a  topic  which 
may  hold  us  for  some  months  (the  honey 
months  at  least)  *? 

"  C.  Lamb." 

Priscilla  Lloyd — who  had  definitely  left  the 
Friends,  although,  as  her  son,  the  Bishop  of  St. 
Andrews,  in  his  "  Annals  of  My  Early  Life," 
with  some  glee  tells  us,  she  was  not  baptized 
until  after  her  marriage — became  Mrs.  Chris- 
topher Wordsworth  within  a  short  time  of 
Lamb's  question.  Her  husband  was  then  a 
Norfolk  rector,  but  a  little  while  later  he  be- 
came vicar  of  St.  Mary's,  Lambeth,  where 
most  of  Priscilla's  married  life  was  spent.  Of 
that  more  will  be  said  in  another  place. 


169 


ROBERT  Lloyd's  london  visit 

1S09 

One  result  of  Robert  Lloyd's  marriage  was 
to  interrupt  his  correspondence  with  Lamb. 
This  it  did  so  completely  that  between  Lamb's 
last  letter — of  September,  1804 — and  the  one 
that  followed  it,  more  than  four  years  elapsed. 
Nothing  is  much  easier  than  to  allow  a  corre- 
spondence, even  of  the  most  familiar  nature,  to 
fail,  and  among  received  means  of  causing  a 
break  none  has  more  vogue  than  marriage. 
Marriage  in  itself  is  sufficient,  but  Robert  Lloyd 
was  also  partner  in  a  business  which  demanded 
a  large  share  of  his  energies,  and  the  cares  of 
a  young  family  were  thickening  upon  him. 
Moreover,  Lamb's  letters  had  always  been  re- 
plies to  his  friend's,  and  therefore  when  the 
friend  ceased  to  write.  Lamb  ceased  too.^ 

'  Mr.  W.  P.  James,  writing  in  the  "St.  James's  Gazette,"  at  the 
time  when  certain  extracts  from  Lamb's  letters  to  Robert  Lloyd  were 
appearing  in  the  "  Cornhill  Magazine"  (May  and  June,  1898),  treated 
170 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   LONDON   VISIT 

Early  in  1809,  however,  Robert  Lloyd  had 
occasion  to  visit  London  on  business.  He 
wrote  to  Lamb  forewarning  him  of  his  ap- 
proach.    Lamb  replied  at  once  : — 

"  Dear  Robert, — A  great  gap  has  been  filled 
up  since  our  intercourse  was  broken  off.  We 
shall  at  least  have  some  things  to  talk  over 
when  we  meet.  That  you  should  never  have 
been  in  London  since  I  saw  you  last  is  a  fact 
which  I  cannot  account  for  on  the  principles 
of  my  own  mental  formation.     You  are  worthy 


Robert  with  severity.  Thus  :  "  Robert  Lloyd  may  have  had  all  the 
gifts  and  graces  Charles  Lamb  said  he  had ;  but  this  grace  apparently 
vjras  not  given  him,  to  appreciate  at  its  real  worth  his  rare  privilege  in 
being  Charles  Lamb's  Correspondent.  Imagine  receiving  such  letters 
as  those  printed  ...  in  '  Cornhill,'  the  one  on  Isaak  Walton,  the 
one  on  Jeremy  Taylor,  the  one  on  London,  and  then  deliberately  fore- 
going the  chance  of  receiving  more  of  the  same  kind  for  lack  of  an 
occasional  line  of  his  own.  He  married  a  mere  mortal  wife,  and 
therefore  he  could  not  write  !  And  so  for  three  whole  years  there 
were  no  more  letters  from  Lamb.  People  said  the  King  of  Bavaria  was 
mad  because  he  had  performances  of  '  Lohengrin'  in  an  empty 
theatre  for  his  own  private  delectation.  What  is  one  to  say  of  the 
man  who  might  have  gone  on  receiving  the  most  perfect  little  essays 
of  Elia  by  post  all  for  his  sole  self,  and  lightly  threw  away  the  privi- 
lege ?"  What,  indeed  ?  With  every  desire  in  the  world  to  appear 
for  Robert  Lloyd's  defence  (as  his  biographer  naturally  has),  it  is  im- 
possible to  find  anything  to  say. 

171 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

to  be  mentioned  with  Claudian's  Old  Man  of 
Verona.'  I  forbear  to  ask  you  any  questions 
concerning  your  family  :  who  are  dead,  and  who 
married  ;  I  will  not  anticipate  our  meeting.  I 
have  been  in  total  darkness  respecting  you  all 
these  years.  I  am  just  up ;  and  have  heard, 
without  being  able  to  confirm  the  fact,  that 
Drury  Lane  Theatre  is  burnt  to  the  ground. 
Of  Walton's  '  Angler'  a  new  edition  is  just 
published  with  the  original  plates  revived.  I 
think  of  buying  it.  The  old  editions  are  two 
guineas,  and  two  guineas  and  a  half  I  have 
not  forgotten  our  ride  from  Saffron  Walden, 
and  the  madness  of  young  parson  Thomson 
of  Cambridge,  that  I  took  your  brother  to  see. 
He  is  gone  as  a  missionary  to  the  East. 

"I  live  at  present  at  No.  16  Mitre  Court 
Buildings,  Inner  Temple.  I  shall  move  at  Lady 
Day,  or  a  little  later :  if  you  don't  find  me  in 
M.C.B.,  I  shall  be  at  No.  ^  or  \  Inner  Temple 
Lane,  at   either  of  which   places   I   shall   be 

'  "  De  Sene  Veronensi,  qui  suburbium  nunquam  egressus  est;"  or, 
as  Cowley  translated  it,  in  his  essay  "On  the  Dangers  of  an  Honest 
Man  in  Much  Company  :  " 

'*  Happy  the  man,  who  his  whole  time  doth  bound 

Within  th'  inclosure  of  his  little  ground  " — and  so  on. 
172 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   LONDON   VISIT 

happy  to  shake  my  old  friend  Robert  by  the 
hand. 

"C.  L. 

"Saturday,  Feb.  25,  1809." 

There  has  been  a  previous  allusion  to  the 
young  parson  Thomson  in  an  earlier  letter, 
(see  page  119).  The  story  of  the  ride  from 
Saffron  Walden  will  now  never  be  known.  Of 
the  accuracy  of  the  rumour  of  the  burning  of 
Drury  Lane  the  "Rejected  Addresses"  are 
testimony  enough. 

Robert  Lloyd  reached  London  late  in  March, 
and  forthwith  plunged  into  excitement.  The 
story  of  this  momentous  visit  is  told  in  a  series 
of  sprightly  letters  to  his  wife — letters  of  greater 
interest  far  than  those  which  he  penned  as  a 
wooer.     The  first  ran  thus  : 

"March,  1809. 
"  My  dearest  Hannah, — My  head  has  been 
in  a  perpetual  whirl  since  I  came  here,  and  in 
two  days  I  have  lived  many  weeks.  I  would 
fain  have  written  to  you  by  to-day's  post,  but 
it  was  scarcely  practicable.  The  first  thing 
after  breakfast  we  went  to  the  Horse  Guards 
173 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

to  hear  the  band  play  while  they  mounted 
guard.  We  afterwards  went  to  Mr.  Millar's, 
bookseller,  in  Albemarle  Street,  where  we  had  a 
complete  treat.  For  instance,  we  saw  a  copy 
of  the  '  Shipwreck,'  printed  on  velvet  [*?  vel- 
lum], and  the  price  thirty  guineas — indeed,  I 
never  saw  such  splendour  in  the  furniture  of 
Books  before.  Mr.  Millar  was  not  in  the  shop, 
but  in  a  book  room  fitted  up  in  the  first  style 
of  Elegance.  From  thence  we  went  to  the 
London  Institution,  where  I  was  completely 
delighted.  The  House  of  Commons  after- 
wards attracted  our  notice — the  place  where 
Fox  and  Pitt  sat  occasioned  most  lively  emo- 
tions. I  should  have  gone  to-night  in  the  gal- 
lery, but  a  circumstance,  as  follows,  prevented 
me.  Having  called  at  the  India  House  and 
met  with  my  old  friend  Lamb,  who  asked  me 
to  dinner,  which  I,  of  course,  accepted,  neces- 
sarily prevented  my  attending  the  House  of 
Commons.  Lamb,  and  his  sister  especially,  re- 
ceived me  in  a  very  kind  manner ;  we  supped 
with  Godwin,  and  from  him  I  am  this  moment 
returned — (twelve  o'clock).  You  would,  I 
know,  my  dear  love,  have  been  delighted  in 
beholding  his  family ;  he  appears  to  keep  no 
174 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   LONDON   VISIT 

servants,  and  his  children  to  occupy  their 
places.  I  was  much  gratified  in  seeing  the 
three  children  of  Mrs.  WoUstone craft,  two 
girls  and  a  son.  One  of  the  girls,  the  eldest, 
is  a  sweet,  unaffected  creature  about  fourteen. 
She  handed  me  porter,  and  attracted  much  of 
my  attention.  Mrs.  Godwin  is  not  a  pleasant 
woman,  a  wife  far  different  from  the  one  you 
would  suppose  such  a  man  would  have  selected. 
I  dine  out  again  to-morrow,  and  shall  sup  with 
Lamb.  Godwin  is  a  bookseller  I  !  !  !  !  !  I  I 
"  I  am  your  sincerely  affecte.  Husband, 

"R.  Lloyd." 

The  phalanx  of  notes  of  exclamation  may 
be  taken  to  signify  Robert's  excitement  on  find- 
ing that  Godwin  was  a  bookseller  ioo :  that  is 
to  say,  in  Robert's  own  line  of  business.  His 
old  friend.  Lamb,  shared  his  opinion  concerning 
Mrs.  Godwin.     Lamb  called  her  the  Bad  Baby, 

and,  in  one  letter, "  that  d d  Mrs.  Godwin." 

The  Bad  Baby,  however,  viewed  Robert  more 
leniently.  "  I  must  not,  it  seems,"  wrote  God- 
win at  the  end  of  one  of  his  subsequent  com- 
mercial letters  to  Robert's  firm,  "  close  my 
letter  without  some  kind  message  from  Mrs. 
175 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE    LLOYDS 

Godwin  to  Mr.  Lloyd,  who  has  become,  I  know 
not  how,  strangely  a  favourite  with  her."  And 
again,  in  another,  he  remarked :  "  Mrs.  Godwin 
is  just  now  from  home,  or  I  am  sure  that  she 
would  add  messages  to  this  letter  that  I  should 
prove  myself  a  mere  bungler  if  I  endeavoured 
to  supply." 

Robert  was  mistaken  in  crediting  Mary 
WoUstonecraft  with  three  children.  He  must 
not,  however,  be  blamed,  for  Godwin's  was  a 
confusing  household.  Mary  WoUstonecraft 
had  but  two  children :  the  ill-starred  Fanny 
Imlay,  born  in  1794,  and  Mary,  in  1797.  In 
1809,  therefore,  Fanny  would  be  fifteen  and 
Mary  twelve ;  so  that  it  probably  was  Fanny 
and  not  the  future  Mrs.  Shelley,  who  plied  the 
young  visitor  with  porter. 

Charles  Lloyd  would,  of  course,  be  known  to 
Godwin,  at  any  rate  by  name,  for  he  had  pub- 
licly interested  himself  in  the  philosopher's 
theories.  The  preface  to  "  Edmund  Oliver"  tells 
us  that  it  was  written  to  confute  Godwin's  views 
on  free  love,  while  among  Charles  Lloyd's  poems 
is  an  address  to  Mary  WoUstonecraft. 

Here  is  Robert's  second  letter : 


176 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   LONDON   VISIT 

"  Thursday  Morning,  half-past  8. 

"  My  dearest  Hannah, — I  still  go  on  enjoy- 
ing myself  exceedingly.  Yesterday  I  attended 
the  meeting  in  Westminster  Hall  for  the  pur- 
pose of  thanking  Colonel  Wardle.  I  was  nearly 
squeezed  to  death.  ...  I  dined  with  a  Book- 
seller, and  then  adjourned  to  my  old  friend 
Lamb.  Mr.  Rickman,  secretary  to  the  Speaker, 
Capt.  Burney,  Bro.  of  Miss  Burney  the  novelist, 
and  Mr.  Dyer  the  poet  [G.D.]  were  of  the 
party.  We  had  nothing  but  cold  pork  and  a 
cheese  and  no  other  beveridge  than  porter. 
Pipes  were  introduced.  I  did  not  return  till 
half-past  twelve. 

"  I  shall  call  upon  my  Uncle  John  to-day, 
and  intend  sleeping  at  his  House  on  Friday  and 
Saturday.  Of  course  you  will  continue  to  direct 
to  me  here ;  though,  much  to  my  disgrace,  a 
letter  from  you  has  not  appeared  ;  however,  I 
confidently  look  for  one  this  morning.  I  write 
thus  early  having  innumerable  engagements, 
and  doubting  whether  a  spare  hour  will  occur 
during  the  day.  Much  to  my  surprise,  I  found 
your  Brother's  card  on  our  table  this  morning. 
Of  course  I  shall  call  upon  him,  and  congratu- 
late them  on  the  festival.  The  Shakspeare 
»  177 


CHARLES    LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Gallery,  Miss  Linwood's  Exhibition,  and  Co- 
vent  Garden  new  Theatre,  the  Opera,  and  the 
play  remain  to  be  seen.  Drury  Lane  Theatre 
still  smoaks.  What  a  sad  ruin  does  it  exhibit ! 
"  How  is  little  Mary  ?  and  how  are  you  ? 
Pray  write  frequent  and  believe  me 

"  Most  sincerely  your  friend, 

"  R.  Lloyd." 

In  a  postscript,  appended  at  1 1  o'clock,  Rob- 
ert says  that  he  has  engaged  to  accompany 
some  friends  to  the  Theatre  on  Monday  "  to 
see  Mrs.  Siddons,  and  to  the  Opera  on  Tues- 
day." He  adds  :  "  Pray  dispatch  me  from  the 
Dog  Inn  at  seven  O'clock  in  the  Evening  2  pair 
of  White  silk  stockings.  I  must  go  smart  to 
the  Opera, — I  have  ordered  a  pair  of  dress- 
clothes  in  London." 

Easter,  1809,  brought  Hannah  Lloyd  a  let- 
ter, written  on  Good  Friday,  telling  of  further 
adventures : — 

"  I  drank  tea  in  company  with  Mr.  Godwin 
last  night ;  he  is  a  most  delightful  Man — the 
modulation  of  his  voice  was  beautiful,  and  his 
language  uncommonly  correct.  I  shall  call 
upon  [him]  again  to-morrow,  to  give  him  an 

178 


ROBERT  LLOYD'S   LONDON   VISIT 

order ;  poor  Man,  he  is  much  to  be  felt  for.  I 
shall  tell  you  all  on  my  return,  a  volume  would 
scarcely  contain  what  I  have  seen,  felt,  and 
heard.  .  .  .  Lamb  was  quite  delighted  with 
the  *  Walton'  I  brought  with  me.  I  go  with 
him  to  Captain  Burney's  to-morrow  Evening, 
and  most  of  Sunday  I  shall  pass  with  my  old 
friend.  I  met  Wordsworth  by  accident  yester- 
day. He  looked  very  well,  but  he  gave  an 
unpleasant  account  of  Priscilla,  she  has  had 
something  of  a  relapse,  and  her  ague  has  re- 
turned again." 

Robert  seems  to  have  intercepted  Lamb  in 
his  purpose  of  buying  the  new  "Walton." 
The  next  communication  from  London,  dated 
April  3,  1809,  offers  a  pleasant  glimpse  of 
Charles  and  Mary  Lamb  at  home : — 

"  I  spent  Saturday  Evening  with  Mr.  God- 
win. He  is  a  delightful  man,  and  mild  as  a 
child — his  accents  are  most  fascinating.  The 
Picture  of  Mrs.  WoUstonecraft  [*?  hangs]  over 
the  fireplace.  Yes,  my  love^  I  shall  have  vol- 
umes to  tell  you,  and  an  infinite  store  for  my 
Mind  to  dwell  upon.  Oh,  that  you  were  with 
me  I  how  delicious  then  would  be  my  delight  I 

The  time  I  hope  will  come  when  we  shall  visit 
179 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

London  together ;  it  is  indeed  a  place  rich  with 
the  stores  of  amusement  and  interest.  I  spent 
yesterday  with  Lamb  and  his  sister — it  is 
sweetly  gratifying  to  see  them.  They  were 
not  up  when  I  went.  Mary  (his  sister)  the 
moment  I  entered  the  Room,  calling  from  her 
chamber,  said — '  Robert,  I  am  coming.'  They 
appear  to  sleep  in  Rooms  by  each  other. 

"  If  we  may  use  the  expression,  their  Union 
of  affection  is  what  we  conceive  of  marriage  in 
Heaven.  They  are  the  World  one  to  the  other. 
They  are  writing  a  Book  of  Poetry  for  chil- 
dren together.  Lamb  and  I  amused  ourselves 
in  the  afternoon  in  reading  the  manuscripts — I 
shall  send  one  or  two  of  the  pieces  in  my  next. 
Lamb  is  the  most  original  being  you  can  con- 
ceive, and  suited  to  me,  in  some  of  his  habits,  or 
ways  of  thinking,  to  a  tee."  [Several  lines  are 
unfortunately  here  cut  away.  Apparently  they 
formed  part  of  a  character  sketch  of  Lamb,  for 
the  letter  continues]  "  Sun  rises  and  where  it 
sets  he  is  perfectly  indifferent  about,  and  is 
ignorant  which  way  the  wind  blows." 

On  the  next  day  Robert  wrote  again.  This 
is  a  passage  : — 

"  We  saw  the  Opera  dancing  last  night,  so 

i8o 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   LONDON   VISIT 

we  shall  not  miss  much  ;  girls  from  nine  to  fif- 
teen, of  sorted  sizes  and  proportions,  danced ; 
it  had  a  pretty  effect.  I  was  much  delighted 
with  the  Opera  House,  it  quite  eclipses  Drury 
Lane.  Mrs.  Siddons's  voice  filled  the  immense 
expanse ;  the  Boxes  have  crimson  curtains  on 
each  side  which  give  a  grand  appearance. 

"  I  was  delighted  with  the  meeting  at  Guild- 
hall on  Saturday.  I  dined  with  our  brother 
and  sister  to-day — we  decline  going  to  the 
Opera  ;  I  prefer  Lamb's  company,  which  I  shall 
enjoy  to-night.  I  shall  endeavour  to  see  Mrs. 
Siddons  and  Kemble  in  '  Macbeth.'  Paper 
won't  allow  of  more,  I  am  glad  chickies  are 
well." 

Four  pieces  from  Charles  and  Mary  Lamb's 
"  Poetry  for  Children"  were  then  copied : — 
"  Choosing  a  Name"  ("  I  have  got  a  new-born 
sister"),  "  Breakfast"  ("  A  dinner-party — coffee, 
tea"),  "  Choosing  a  Profession"  ("  A  Creole 
Boy  from  the  West  Indies  brought"),  and 
"  Summer  Friends"  ("  The  Swallow  is  a  sum- 
mer bird"),  the  first  signed  "  C.  L.,"  and  the 
three  others  "  M.  L."  In  his  next  letter,  the 
last   of  the   series,   Robert   referred   to   them 

again : — 

i8i 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

"  I  sent  you  on  Tuesday  a  few  verses,  written 
2  p  3]  of  them  by  Mary  Lamb  and  the  other 
by  C.  Lamb.  It  is  task  work  to  them,  they 
are  writing  for  money,  and  a  Book  of  Poetry 
for  Children  being  Hkely  to  sell  has  induced 
them  to  compose  one ;  the  verses  I  sent  you 
were  part  of  the  collection.  .  .  . 

"  I  was  much  pleased  with  Kemble  and  Mrs. 
Siddons  in  '  Macbeth'  on  Tuesday.  I  spend 
this  evening  with  Lamb — my  spirits  were 
pare]  uncommonly  flat.  I  dined  yesterday 
with  Charles's  Old  friend  [James]  White.  By- 
the-by,  I  saw  Mrs.  Clarke  yesterday — she  was 
walking  in  Cheapside  with  a  Mr.  Sullivan,  who 
is  now  reported  to  live  with  her.  She  has  very 
fine  large  Eyes,  and  [is]  very  much  like  a 
picture  in  the  shops,  where  she  is  represented  as 
lying  almost  at  length  on  a  sofa.  I  have  not 
seen  it  in  Birmingham,  the  one  I  saw  there  is 
not  at  all  like.' 


*  Mrs.  Clarke  was,  of  course,  the  notorious  adventuress,  the  mis- 
tress of  the  Duke  of  York.  The  Duke  had  resigned  his  position  as 
Commander-in-Chief  on  the  20th  of  March,  1809,  a  few  days  before 
Robert  reached  London,  in  consequence  of  the  scandals  caused  by  this 
liaison.      On  the  28th  of  the  same  month  Lamb  wrote  to  Manning  ; — 

'*  If  you  see  newspapers  you  will  read  about  Mrs.  Clarke.  The 
sensation  in  London  about  this  nonsensical  business  is  marvellous.  I 
182 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   LONDON   VISIT 

"  This  morning  I  saw  the  London  Institution, 
the  European  Gallery  (a  most  splendid  col- 
lection of  pictures  and  paintings),  Miss  Lin- 
wood's  needlework  (grand  indeed),  and  the 
Panorama  of  Grand  Cairo,  with  which  I  was 
much  pleased — the  Pyramids  were  a  fine  object. 
This  evening  I  intend  calling  upon  Lamb  and 
Godwin.  My  time  is  fully  filled  up.  I  did 
not  dine  yesterday  till  near  six.  I  long  to 
come  home  and  rest  my  weary  feet  by  my  own 
fireside  ...  I  love  the  employment  of  writing 
to  you.  You  see  my  letters  through  a  false 
medium  ;  it  is  something  like  the  beauty  which 
the  sun  gives  to  inanimate  objects.  If  I  had 
written  this  morning,  a  greater  tide  of  affection 
would  have  flowed.     That  we  cannot  always 


remember  nothing  in  my  life  like  it :  thousands  of  ballads,  caricatures, 
lives  of  Mrs.  Clarke,  in  every  blind  alley.  Yet  in  the  midst  of  this 
stir  [he  adds],  a  sublime  dancing-master,  wrho  attends  a  family  we 
know  at  Kensington,  being  asked  a  question  about  the  progress  of  the 
examinations  in  the  House,  inquired  who  Mrs.  Clarke  was.  He  had 
heard  nothing  of  it.  He  had  evaded  this  omnipresence  by  utter  insig- 
nificancy !  The  Duke  [of  York]  should  make  that  man  his  confi- 
dential valet.  I  proposed  locking  him  up,  barring  him  the  use  of  his 
fiddle  and  red  pumps  until  he  had  minutely  perused  and  committed  to 
memory  the  whole  body  of  the  examinations,  which  employed  the 
House  of  Commons  a  fortnight,  to  teach  him  to  be  more  attentive  to 
what  concerns  the  public." 

183 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   THE   LLOYDS 

command.     Accept  of  my  dearest  love,  and 
believe  me, 

"  Your  sincerely  afFecte.  Husband, 

"Robert  Lloyd." 

And  so  ended  the  London  visit. 

Lamb's  next  letter  to  Robert  Lloyd  was 
dated  January  i,  1810.  Robert,  falling  into 
line  with  other  of  Lamb's  friends,  seems  to 
have  presented  him  with  a  bird.  The  reply 
ran: — 

"  Dear  Robert, — In  great  haste  I  write.  The 
Turkey  is  down  at  the  fire,  and  some  pleasant 
friends  are  come  in  to  partake  of  it.  The 
Sender's  Health  shall  not  be  forgot.  What 
you  tell  me  of  your  Father's  perseverance  in 
his  honourable  task  gives  me  great  pleasure. 
Seven  Books  are  a  serious  earnest  of  the  whole, 
which  I  hope  to  see  finish'd. 

"  We  had  a  delightful  month  in  Wiltshire, 

four  weeks  of  uniform  fine  weather,  the  only 

fine  days  which  had  been  all  the  summer.     Saw 

Salisbury  Cathedral,  Stonehenge,  Wilton,  &c., 

&c.     Mary  is  in  excellent  health,  and  sends  her 
184 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   LONDON   VISIT 

Love.     Accept  of  mine,  with  my  kind  respects 
to  Mrs.  LI and  to  your  father  and  mother. 

"  Coleridge's  Friend  is  occasionally  sublime. 
What  do  you  think  of  that  Description  of 
Luther  in  his  Study  in  one  of  the  earlier  num- 
bers ?  ^  The  worst  is,  he  is  always  promising 
something  which  never  comes  ;  it  is  now  1 8th 
Number,  and  continues  introductory ;  the  i  yth 
(that  stupid  long  letter)  was  nothing  better  than 
a  Prospectus,  and  ought  to  have  preceded  the 
1st  Number.     But  I  rejoice  that  it  lives. 

"  When  you  come  to  London,  you  will  find 
us  at  No.  4  Inner  Temple  Lane,  with  a  few  old 
Books,  a  few  old  Hogarth's  round  the  room, 
and  the  Household  Gods  at  last  establish'd. 
The  feeling  of  Home,  which  has  been  slow  to 
come,  has  come  at  last.  May  I  never  move 
again,  but  may  my  next  Lodging  be  my 
Coffin." 

"  Yours  truly, 
"  C.  Lamb." 

'  In  the  revised  edition  of  "  The  Friend,"  this  description  is  in  the 
Second  Section,  Essay  z^  ''The  First  Landing  Stage." 

"  On  the  2nd  of  January,  1810,  the  day  after  supplying  Robert 
Lloyd  with  this  brief  description  of  his  new  lodging,  Lamb,  in  writing 
to  Manning,  thus  amplified  it : — 

"  In  my  best  room  is  a  choice  collection  of  the  works  of  Hogarth,  an 

i8s 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

The  remark  concerning  Mr.  Lloyd's  perse- 
verance is  an  allusion  to  the  translation  of  the 
"Odyssey,"  upon  which,  as  we  shall  see  later,  he 
was  then  engaged.  The  Wiltshire  holiday  was 
a  visit  to  Hazlitt.  To  Coleridge  Lamb  had 
already  written  praise  of  the  account  of  Luther 
in  the  Warteburg,  in  "  The  Friend :"  "  It  is  as 
fine  as  anything  I  ever  read.  God  forbid  that 
a  man  who  has  such  things  to  say  should  be 
silenced  for  want  of  i  oo/."  "  The  Friend" 
lived  only  ten  months,  dying  in  March,  1810, 
before  there  was  time  to  fulfil  many  of  the 
promises  to  which  Lamb  referred. 

English  painter  of  some  humour.  In  my  next  best  are  shelves  con- 
taining a  small  but  well-chosen  library.  My  best  room  commands  a 
court,  in  which  there  are  trees  and  a  pump,  the  water  of  which  is  ex- 
cellent cold,  with  brandy,  and  not  very  insipid  without.  Here  I  hope 
to  set  up  my  rest,  and  not  quit  till  Mr.  Powell,  the  undertaker,  gives 
me  notice  that  I  may  have  possession  of  my  last  lodging.  He  lets 
lodgings  for  single  gentlemen." 


186 


XI 


ROBERT    LLOYD  S    DEATH 
1811 


Robert  Lloyd  can  never  have  been  strong. 
He  came  of  a  delicate  family,  and  he  did  not 
spare  himself  Impulsive,  sensitive,  sympa- 
thetic, and  enthusiastic,  he  flung  himself  into 
whatever  interested  him  with  reckless  abandon 
and  wholeheartedness,  and  passed  through  the 
emotions  of  half  a  score  of  ordinary  persons. 
Hence,  when  financial  trouble  came,  or,  if  it 
did  not  actually  come,  loomed  threateningly 
ahead,  his  panic  was  so  complete  as  seriously  to 
undermine  his  strength. 

Immediately  upon  this  worry  came  the  ill- 
ness of  his  brother  Thomas,  which  he  felt  pro- 
foundly. Natures  of  such  sensibility  suffer  in 
a  degree  inconceivable  to  those  who  are  blessed 
with  apathy,  and  under  the  combined  assault 
Robert's  constitution,  at  its  best  never  qualified 
to  support  much  strain,  gave  way. 
187 


CHARLES    LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

The  autumn  of  1811  was  indeed  a  terrible 
season  for  the  Lloyd  family.  Thomas  Lloyd 
died  on  September  1 2,  in  his  thirty-second  year, 
Caroline  on  October  15,  in  her  twenty-second 
year,  and  Robert  on  the  26th  of  the  same  month, 
in  his  thirty-third  year. 

The  testimony  of  Hannah  Lloyd,  in  an  ac- 
count of  her  husband's  death  which  she  wrote, 
a  few  months  afterwards,  to  be  preserved  for 
their  children,  shows  that  Robert,  although  he 
clung  fondly  to  life,  met  death  courageously 
and  with  confidence.  The  description  of  the 
course  of  his  illness  is  too  sad  a  story,  but 
this  little  glimpse  of  his  character  is  of  shining 
beauty :  "  He  possessed  a  disposition  of  engag- 
ing simplicity  ...  his  habits  and  pleasures  were 
domestic,  and  when  unclouded  by  nervous  de- 
pression, exceedingly  cheerful.  Kindness  and 
generosity  were  characteristic  of  his  nature. 
When  he  entered  his  house,  it  might  truly  be 
said  that  he  diffused  a  feeling  of  pleasure.  You, 
my  children,  were  accustomed  to  run  to  meet 
him  with  animated  joy.  His  tasks  led  him  to 
works  of  imagination  and  sentiment,  and  also 
to  those  of  a  devotional  cast.     Such  was  your 

lovely  Father — to  him  I  imparted  every  feeling 
188 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   DEATH] 

of  my  heart ;  he  was  uniformly  the  tenderest 
of  friends — the  sweetest  companion." 

That  Charles  Lamb  felt  the  death  of  his 
friend  we  know  from  the  grave  and  affectionate 
tribute  to  his  memory  which  he  composed  for 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine.  The  following  letter 
from  Charles  Lloyd  to  Robert's  widow  gives 
the  memoir  in  full.  "  Such,"  he  wrote,  "  is  the 
beautiful  and  appropriate  account  sent  to  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine.,  by  dear  Charles  Lamb, 
who,  if  I  lov'd  him  for  nothing  else,  I  should 
now  love  for  the  affecting  interest  that  he  has 
taken  in  the  memory  of  my  dearest  Brother 
and  Friend.  C.  Lamb  sent  me  the  written 
copy  himself: — 

" '  To  dilate  in  many  words  upon  the  char- 
acter of  R.  LI.  would  be  to  violate  the  modest 
regard  due  to  his  memory,  who,  in  his  lifetime, 
shrunk  so  anxiously  from  every  species  of 
notice.  His  constitutional  misfortune  was  an 
excess  of  nervous  sensibility  which,  in  the 
purest  of  hearts,  produced  rather  too  great  a 
spirit  of  self-abasement,  a  perpetual  apprehen- 
sion of  not  doing  what  was  right.  Yet  beyond 
this  tenderness  he  seemed  absolutely  to  have 

no  self-regards  at  all.     His  eye  was  single,  and 
189 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   THE   LLOYDS 

ever  fixed  upon  that  form  of  goodness  which 
he  worshipped  wherever  he  found  it,  except  in 
himself.  What  he  was  to  his  parents  and  in  his 
family  the  newness  of  their  sorrow  may  make 
it  unseasonable  to  touch  at ;  his  loss,  alas  !  was 
but  one  in  a  complication  of  afflictions  which 
have  fallen  so  heavy  of  late  upon  a  worthy 
house.  But  as  a  Friend,  the  writer  of  this  me- 
morial can  witness,  that  what  he  once  esteemed 
and  loved,  it  was  an  unalterable  law  of  his  nature 
to  continue  to  esteem  and  love. 

"  *  Absences  of  years,  the  discontinuance  of 
correspondence,  from  whatever  cause,  for  ever 
so  great  a  length  of  time,  made  no  difference. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  affectionate  part  of  his  nature 
could  suffer  no  abatement.  The  display  of 
what  the  world  calls  shining  talents  would 
have  been  incompatible  with  a  character  like 
his  ;  but  he  oftentimes  let  fall,  in  his  familiar 
conversation,  and  in  his  letters,  bright  and 
original  illustrations  of  feeling  which  might 
have  been  mistaken  for  genius,  if  his  own 
watchful  modest  spirit  had  not  constantly  in- 
terposed to  recall  and  substitute  for  them  some 
of  the  ordinary   forms   of  observation  which 

lay  less  out  of  the  circle  of  common  sympa- 
190 


ROBERT  LLOYD'S   DEATH 

thy,  within  which  his  kind  nature  deHghted 
to  move. 

" '  To  conclude : 

Love,  Sweetness,  Goodness,  in  his  countenance  shin'd 
So  clear,  as  in  no  face  with  more  delight. 

But  now  he  is  gone,  he  has  left  his  earthly  com- 
panions ;  yet  his  departure  had  this  in  it  to 
make  us  less  sorrowful,  that  it  was  but  as  a 
gentle  removing  of  the  veil,  which  while  he 
walked  upon  earth,  seemed  scarcely  to  separate 
his  spirit  from  that  world  of  heavenly  and  re- 
fined essences  with  which  it  is  now  indissolubly 
connected.' "  ^ 

"  I  contemplate  his  character,"  wrote  Charles 
Lloyd  of  Robert,  "  as  the  most  sweet  and  af- 
fecting that  I  ever  knew."  Further  testimony 
came  from  Charles  in  the  shape  of  four  sonnets 
which  he  sent  to  Hannah  Lloyd  a  few  days 
after  Robert's  death.  This  is  the  first  and 
simplest : — 

*  The  article  appeared  in  the  Obituary  of  the  Gentleman' i  Magazine 
— unsigned — in  November,  1811.  A  comparison  of  Lamb's  copy,  as 
sent  to  Charles  Lloyd,  with  the  printed  version  discloses  certain  textual 
changes  which  may  have  been  made  in  proof  by  himself,  or  by  the 
editor.  In  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine  the  little  memoir  ended  at  the 
words  "within  which  his  kind  nature  delighted  to  move." 
191 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

My  friend,  my  Brother,  no  more  shall  I  see 

That  face  affectionate,  that  face  benign. 

Those  eyes  where  tenderness  did  always  shine 
Whene'er  they  turn'd  their  gentle  beams  on  me ! 
If  ever  Faith,  and  Generosity, 

Love  and  benevolence  almost  divine 
Forgetfulness  of  self.  Humility, 

Blest  Human-nature, — Robert,  they  were  thine  ! 
Thy  smile — I  see  it  now — was  kind  and  sweet 

As  the  first  dawnings  of  a  vernal  morn  : 
Thy  warm  solicitude  each  wish  to  meet 

And  catch  the  struggling  meaning  e'er  'twas  born. 
Ne'er  shall  I  see  again  !      Who  o'er  thy  Urn, 
Lov'd   friend,    like   Him   who    lov'd    thee    most,  should 

mourn  ? 


Another  brother — James — in  sending  Han- 
nah Lloyd  a  bundle  of  Robert's  letters  added 
this  note  : — "  You  will  see,  my  dear  Sister,  by 
these  letters  written  by  Beloved  Robert  before 
you  knew  him  that  he  was  the  dear  affectionate 
and  truly  sincere  Brother  and  friend  as  you 
have  since  proved  him  to  be  in  the  character 
of  a  Husband.  No  time  can  obliterate  the 
sweet  fragrance  of  his  person.'" 

Robert  Lloyd  left  four  children,  three  girls 

and  a  boy  named  after  his  father.     To  end  this 

chapter  on  a  gayer  note,  it  may  be  remarked 
192 


ROBERT   LLOYD'S   DEATH 

that  among  the  Lloyd  correspondence  is  one 
letter  written  to  the  young  Robert  by  his 
mother  in  1824,  when  he  was  a  schoolboy  of 
twelve.  "  I  hope  [it  begins]  my  dearest  boy 
will  like  the  cake  which  accompanies  this." 
Then  follow  home  news  and  a  few  maternal 
counsels,  and  at  the  end  is  a  further  reference 
to  the  cake :  "  I  am  extremely  mortified  at  the 
cake  being  so  much  less  than  I  ordered." 
Little  Robert  Lloyd  probably  was  mortified 
too.  His  answer  is  concise :  "  It  came  durin 
our  Easter  Holidays.  We  were  both  at  Gate- 
acre  at  the  time.     3  of  us  eat  it  one  day." 


13  193 


XII 

MR.  Lloyd's  "iliad" 

1807-1809 

Of  Mr.  Lloyd's  love  of  classics  and  his  un- 
usual powers  of  memory  something  has  already 
been  said.  But  his  interest  in  Greek  and  Latin 
did  not  stop  at  reading  and  repeating  his  favour- 
ite poems  in  these  languages :  he  passed  on  to 
make  versions  of  them  in  English.  Mr.  Lloyd 
was  always  a  very  busy  man,  yet  in  direct 
defiance  of  Cowper's  sentiment — 

It  is  a  maxim  of  much  weight. 
Worth  conning  o'er  and  o'er. 

He  who  has  Homer  to  translate. 
Had  need  do  nothing  more. — 

he  turned  the  whole  of  the  "  Odyssey"  into 
verse,  a  portion,  if  not  all,  of  the  "  Iliad,"  and 
the  Epistles  of  Horace. 

Mr.  Lloyd's  object  was  amusement  and  self- 
instruction,  yet  the  desire  for  print,  which  al- 
most always  accompanies  authorship,  coming 
194 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

upon  him,  he  instructed  Robert,  in  1807,  to 
strike  off  a  few  copies  of  the  twenty-fourth 
book  of  the  "  IHad  ;"  and  these  were  distributed 
among  his  friends. 

The  decasyllabic  couplet  was  the  form 
adopted,  and  Mr.  Lloyd  stated  in  the  preface 
that  he  had  "  endeavoured  to  keep  near  to 
Homer's  meaning,  though  not  so  literally  as 
Cowper  has  done  in  his  translation,  which  has 
preserved  much  of  the  grandeur  and  simplicity 
of  the  original." 

In  due  course  criticisms  flowed  in. 

Charles  Lloyd  the  younger,  after  showing 
the  version  to  Coleridge,  sent  his  father  the 
following  message :  "  Coleridge  told  me  that  he 
was  very  much  pleased  indeed  with  thy  transla- 
tion, and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  these  were 
his  undisguised  sentiments,  as  he  introduced 
the  subject  himself — he  said  that  there  was  a 
naturalness  (if  one  may  be  allowed  to  coin  a 
word)  and  ease  about  the  translation  that  very 
much  delighted  him,  and  much  regretted  that 
more  perplexing  avocations  should  interfere 
with  thy  ardour  in  the  pursuit." 

That  was  brief  and  pertinent.  From  Anna 
Seward,  however,  who  then  stood  in  the  same 
X95 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

relation  to  Lichfield  as  Shakespeare  to  Strat- 
ford-on-Avon — as  "Swan" — came  three  lengthy 
and  florid  communications.  Mr.  Lloyd  seems 
to  have  sent  her  not  only  the  printed  volume, 
but  also  a  manuscript  version  of  the  Sixth  Book: 
for  it  is  with  the  Sixth  Book  that  her  first  and 
second  letters  deal.  Her  third  bears  upon  the 
Twenty-fourth.  The  letters  are  inordinately 
long,  but  they  are  so  splendidly  pontifical  that 
they  are  here  given  in  full : — 

"Lichfield,  Sept.  30,  1807. 

"  I  thank  you,  Sir,  for  having  allowed  me  to 
peruse  your  translation  of  the  6th  book  of 
Homer's  '  Iliad.'  If  our  language  were  not 
already  enriched  with  the  noblest  translation 
Europe  has  produced  of  that  great  Work  [i.e. 
Pope's],  I  should  expect  you  to  finish  and  to 
publish  yours  : — but  who  may  hope,  especially 
on  the  same  model  of  verse,  to  approach  thai 
which  seldom-equalled  genius,  never-excelled 
taste,  and  the  most  unwearied  care  to  polish 
and  correct,  have  combined  to  render  perfect  as 
a  Poem  ? 

"  I  know  it  is  attacked  by  some  of  the  Greek 

Scholiasts,  for  being  in  rhyme: — but  thai  ob- 
196 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

jection  would  lie  against  yours.  They  are 
angry  also  that  Pope  chose  to  throw  a  veil  of 
poetic  light  over  a  great  number  of  the  original 
passages,  which  have  the  duskiness  of  low  and 
prosaic  language. 

"  Cowper  stood  forth  professing  to  show 
Homer  as  he  is.  What  has  been  the  result  *? — 
a  few  of  the  old  Bard's  Idolators,  who  not  con- 
tent with  adoring  his  sublimity  and  his  beauty, 
like  his  faults  better  than  excellence  from  any 
other  pen,  find  in  Cowper's  undeviating  fidelity 
expiation  for  the  extreme  poetic  inferiority  to 
the  established  Translation. 

"  By  that  vast  majority  of  Readers,  who  do 
not  understand  the  Original,  Pope  and  Cowper's 
Version  will  be  judged  merely  by  the  respective 
poetry  which  each  contains.  The  fiat  of  these 
has  already  proved  that  the  Painter's  axiom  ex- 
tends also  to  Poets — '  It  is  better  to  sin  against 
truth  than  beauty  !' 

"  The  best  blank  Verse  is  unquestionably  a 

more  majestic  vehicle   for  Epic    Poetry  than 

rhyme.     Could  we  see  a  translation  of  Homer, 

free  and  judicious  as  Pope's,  in  such  verse  as 

that  of  the  *  Paradise  Lost,'  or  even  as  the  best 

parts  of  the  '  Task,'  I  should  not,  with  all  my 
197 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

long  admiration  of  Pope's,  hesitate  to  prefer 
the  rival  translation — but  Cowper's  Homer, 
excepting  a  few  noble  passages,  is  wretched 
blank  verse,  no  grace,  no  flow,  no  harmony, 
and  frequently  falls  into  the  construction  of  the 
rhyming  couplet,  and  even  with  terminations 
which  jingle  on  ear,  like  bad  rhymes ;  and  yet 
mine  is  the  2nd  Edition,  which  his  letters  tell  us 
he  had  so  carefully  corrected,  and  so  largely 
altered  as  almost  to  render  it  a  new  version. 
See  opening  of  the  6th  book,  four  immediately 
successive  lines  : 

With  various  fortune  on  the  middle  plain 
By  Simois  laved,  and  Xanthus'  gulphy  stream. 
First,  Ajax,  bulwark  of  the  Grecians,  broke 
A  Trojan  phalanx  and  illumed  with  i>o/)e 
The  mind  of  all  his  followers, — ' 

He  stole  the  picturesque  epithet,  gulphy,  from 
Pope, 

And  gulphy  Xanthus  foams  along  the  field, 

^  Miss  Seward  was  unfortunate  in  her  edition  of  "  Cowper."     The 
passage,  in  Southey's  edition — the  first — runs  thus  : — 

On  the  champain  spread 
The  Xanthus  and  the  Simois  between 

First  Telamonian  Ajax,  bulwark  firm 
Of  the  Achaians,  broke  the  Trojan  ranks, 
And  kindled  for  the  Greeks  a  gleam  of  hope, 
Slaying  the  bravest  of  the  Thracian  band. 
iq8 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

than  which  a  more  poetic  line  was  never 
written. 

"  I  am  sure  you  will  forgive  the  sincerity  you 
have  injoined  when  I  confess,  that  I  do  not  think 
it  possible  to  transcend  in  rhyme  Pope's  trans- 
lation of  Homer,  nor  probable  that  it  will  ever 
be  equalled.  The  images  are  so  bold,  and  strik- 
ing, the  numbers  so  full,  free,  and  sonorous  ! 

Now  Heav'n  forsakes  the  fight :  th'  Immortals  yield 
To  human  force  and  human  skill,  the  field  : 
Dark  showers  of  javelins  fly  from  foes  to  foes ; 
Now  here,  now  there,  the  tide  of  combat  flows  ; 
While  Troy's  fam'd  streams,  that  bound  the  deathful  plain. 
On  either  side  run  purple  to  the  main. 

Great  Ajax  first  to  conquest  led  the  way. 
Broke  the  thick  ranks,  and  turn'd  the  doubtful  day. 

Here  all  is  poetic  strength,  picture  and  har- 
mony. If  Homer  has  expressed  the  sense 
differently  he  cannot  have  expressed  it  better. 
In  all  likelihood  not  near  so  well.  A  Translator 
to  rise  upon  such  an  Original  is  poetic  merit  of 
the  first  order. 

"  It  has  always  been  agreed  that,  for  who- 
ever takes  a  subject  which  has  been  previously 

taken  and  worked  upon  to  the  full  satisfaction 
199 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

of  the  Public  in  general,  it  is  not  enough  that  he 
should  even  succeed  as  well  as  his  Predecessor : 
he  must  transcend  him,  or  the  rival  attempts 
will  instantly  perish,  neglected,  and  forgotten. 

"  Were  you  not  here  so  magnificently  pre- 
occupied on  the  field  of  fame,  and  were  to 
compleat  your  work,  I  should  venture  to  point 
out  several  places  where  it  would  be  necessary 
to  dignify  the  expression :  '  Between  where  Si- 
mois,'  etc. ;  '  To  face  about  and  meet  the  Grecian 
Foe  ;'  '  I  go  to  Troy,  a  special  Messenger^  which 
makes  Hector  an  errand-boy.     Pope  says : 

One  hour  demands  me  in  the  Trojan  Wall 
To  bid  our  altars  flame  and  victims  fall. 

[Miss  Seward  continues  to  point  out  Mr.  Lloyd's 
blemishes]  : 

Like  other  young  men  who  have  dar*d  my  dart 
No  Man  can  send  me  to  the  shades  below 
Till  my  appointed  time  be  come,  to  go. 
That  thou  art  brave  there's  no  man  can  deny. 

One  of  these  prosaicisms  recalls  the  burlesque 
song : 

But  to  come  for  to  go 

For  to  frighten  one  so. 

200 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

They  may  be  Horner^  but  if  so,  how  vast  the 
Greek  Poet's  debt  to  Pope  for  having  spread 
over  them  and  their  brethren 

That  beauteous  veil,  of  brightness  made. 
At  once  their  lustre  and  their  shade.' 

If  I  could  have  procured  time  for  the  exami- 
nation of  your  MS.,  and  for  its  comparison 
with  the  6th  book  of  Pope's  Homer,  you  had 
earlier  received  it  back. 

"  Pray  be  so  good  as  to  remember  me  kindly 
to  your  accomplished  and  amiable  Son  when 
next  you  write  to  him,  and  to  believe  me.  Sir, 
"  Your  obliged  Friend, 

"  Anna  Seward." 

The  accomplished  and  amiable  son  was 
Charles  Lloyd  the  younger. 

The  translator  seems  not  unnaturally  to  have 
replied  to  the  foregoing  missive,  and  in  due 
course  the  Oracle  spoke  again.  This  is  her 
second  letter : 


'  Miss  Seward  was  adapting  Samuel  Butler  on  Moonlight  ('*  Hudi- 
braa,"  part  ii.,  canto  I,  907-8)  : 

Mysterious  veil,  of  brightness  made, 

Thai's  both  her  lustre  and  her  shade. 

201 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"Lichfield,  Nov.  25,  1807. 

"Sir, — I  meant  earlier  to  have  acknowledged 
your  reply  to  my  last  letter,  but  a  series  of  ill- 
health,  and  a  press  of  business  for  my  pen, 
produced  this  involuntary  procrastination. 

"  The  eminent  Scholars  whose  high  appro- 
bation your  translation  of  Homer  has  obtained 
may  well  weigh  with  you  in  decided  prepon- 
derance against  my  unscholastic  opinion.  By 
those  who  understand  the  Original  the  most 
faithful  English  version  will  be  likely  to  be 
most  esteemed,  yet  with  fidelity  to  Homer 
rhymes  are  scarcely  compatible. 

"  You  are  sensible,  however,  that  none  who 
can  drink  the  Homeric  Song  from  the  foun- 
tain head  will  do  more  than,  from  curiosity,  sip 
and  taste  occasionally  from  any  under  current. 
They  will  examine  a  new  version  and  compare 
particular  passages  both  with  the  Original,  and 
with  the  other  translations,  and  probably  like 
those  best,  which  have  the  most  scrupulous 
fidelity  ;  as  we  had  rather  contemplate  an  exact, 
tho'  hard  resemblance  of  a  dear  old  Friend, 
than  one  which  softens  and  melts  down  every 
defect,  substituting  grace  and  beauty  for  imi- 
tative precision. 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

"  Those  who  will  read  the  work  thro'  and 
value  it  for  itself,  to  whom  Greek  is  a  dead  let- 
ter, form  a  prodigious  majority  among  poetic 
Readers ;  and  they  of  that  class,  who  have  the 
keenest  sensibility  of  poetic  beauty,  will  never 
be  induced  to  read  an  English  Homer  which  is 
poetically  inferior  to  Pope's.  Their  opinion 
will  bias  those  who  have  less  power  of  judging 
for  themselves,  and  leave  the  Rivals  of  that 
immortal  work  only  the  barren  and  mortify- 
ing consciousness  of  wasted  time  and  fruitless 
labour. 

"  Mr.  Day,  who  was  a  grounded  Greek 
scholar,  and  a  fine  Poet  himself,  always  main- 
tained that  Pope's  Homer  was,  as  poetry,  very 
superior  to  its  Original,  by  exalting  all  that 
there  is  low,  animating  what  is  tedious,  and 
equalling  in  strength  as  well  as  beauty  almost 
all  the  noblest  passages  of  the  old  Bard ;  so  as 
to  leave  him  no  transcendency  except  what  re- 
sults from  the  grander  intonation  of  the  Greek 
language,  and  from  the  absence  of  rhyme. 
Milton  and  Pope's  numbers,  however,  always 
render  our  language  sufficiently  grand  and  har- 
monious to  satisfy  and  to  charm  every  ear,  the 

delicacy  of  which  is  not  become  morbid. 
203 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"  To  the  admired  simile  with  which  the 
latter  closes  the  8th  book  of  the  '  Iliad,'  I  have 
considerable  objection — not  because  it  adds  to, 
and  extends  the  ideas  of  the  Greek  passage,  not 
because  it  is  finer  poetry,  but  because  it  uses 
epithets  too  gorgeous  for  just  delineation,  and 
is  therefore  not  faithful  to  Nature — '  Refulgent 
lamp  of  Night ;' 

Then  shine  the  vales,  the  rocks  in  prospect  rise, 
KJlood  of  glor^  brightens  all  the  skies  ; — 

and  before  these  lines  he  says : 

Around  her  throne  the  vivid  planets  roll 
And  stars  unnumbered  gild  the  glowing  Pole. 

The  vales  gleam  but  they  do  not  shine  beneath 
the  clearest  moon-light ;  and  for  the  most  re- 
splendent Sun-rise  no  expression  can  be  found 
stronger  than  2,  flood  of  glory. 

"  The  original  and  the  Translation  are  alike 
unfaithful  to  nature  in  representing  the  stellar 
fires  as  in  full  lustre  when  that  of  the  moon  is 
in  consummate  brightness.  A  few  stars  are 
then  sometimes  visible,  but  their  light  is  dim 
and  indistinct.  In  Milton's  lunar  evening  he 
says  the  firmament  glowed  with  living  sapphires 

till  the  moon  unveiled  her  peerless  light,  (peer- 
204 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

less  by  that  of  any  Star)  and  threw  her  silver 
mantle  over  the  dark.  The  lines  of  Pope's 
Homer  which  the  simile  introduces  are  exquisite 
and  faultless ;  the  war-fires  on  Xanthus'  brink 
illuminating  his  waters  ; — their  long-cast  reflec- 
tion gleaming  on  the  walls,  and  trembling  on 
the  spires  of  Troy ; — their  gilding  the  dusky 
horrors  and  shooting  a  shady  lustre  over  the 
fields  I — if  all  this  be  not  Homer,  it  is  first-rate 
poetry.  Paraphrastic  license  in  translation  gives 
it  the  raciness  of  original  composition. 

"  I  am  tempted  to  the  egotism  of  inserting  a 
moon-light  landscape  of  my  own  from  an  un- 
finished Epic  Poem,  built  in  wide  paraphrase 
upon  Fenelon's  '  Telemachus,'  which  in  itself 
contains  few  poetic  essentials.  It  forms  but 
the  mere  outline  of  my  attempt,  which  has  lain 
many  years  unprogressive,  and  as  yet  consists 
of  only  3  books : 

Soft  as  he '  sleeps,  the  now  consummate  moon 
Sheds  lambent  glories  on  the  night's  still  noon. 
Where  the  horizon's  limitary  line 
Meets  the  gloom'd  sea,  and  seems  its  last  confine. 
Serene,  she  stands,  diffusing  thro'  hush'd  waves 
Her  lunar  morning  in  the  Ocean  caves ; 

'  TtUmachus. 
205 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

And,  as  from  sportive  Boy,  descending  prone. 
Sinks  in  the  glassy  pool  the  heavy  stone. 
Wave  gains  on  wave,  while  the  smooth  lake  divides 
Widening,  in  convex  spheres,  the  lucid  tides. 
So  in  the  sky,  divergent  from  her  orb. 
The  skirts  of  milky  light  the  dusk  absorb  ; 
Flush  round  and  round,  and  softly  flush  again. 
Kindling  alike  th'  horizon  and  the  main ; 
While  a  gemm'd  path  the  darksome  waters  o'er. 
Streams  from  her  silver  circlet  to  the  shore. 

Sleepless  Calypso  roves  and  feels  the  stings 
That  doubtful  hope  to  new-born  passion  brings  ; 
She  roves,  what  time,  ascending  from  the  Deep, 
Climbs  the  fair  Moon  the  dusk  ethereal  steep. 
Her  beams  the  summits  of  the  rocks  illume. 
Hills,  glens,  and  fields  steal  faintly  thro'  the  gloom ; 
Blue  gleam  the  brooks,  irriguous  vales  among. 
Their  mists  slow  curling  as  they  wind  along. 
And  dew-sprent  meadows,  more  distinctly  seen 
Tho'  lost  the  floral  hues  and  lively  green 
Which  drank  the  lustre  of  the  gaudy  day. 
Now  glistening,  whiten  in  the  milder  ray  ; 
More  light  and  more  th'  emergent  landscape  gains, 
Till  all  the  scene  in  pale  distinctness  reigns. 

"  I  remain,  Sir,  your  obliged  Servant, 

"  Anna  Seward." 

Mr.  Day  was  Thomas  Day,  the  author  of 
*'  Sandford  and  Merton,"  of  whom  Miss  Sew- 
ard wrote  a  short  biography. 
206 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

It  was  then  that  Mr.  Lloyd  sent  the 
Twenty-fourth  Book.  In  April,  1808,  Miss 
Seward  replied,  almost  to  the  length  of  the 
poem : — 

"  Tardy,  as  to  my  esteemed  Correspondent 
this  acknowledgement  of  his  obliging  present 
must  appear,  it  is  yet  the  earliest  which,  from 
a  heavy  press  of  engagements,  and  literary  in- 
tercourse by  pen,  it  has  been  in  my  power  to 
make. 

"  Whatever  I  may  think  concerning  waste 
of  ability  in  any  present  attempt  to  translate 
Homer  since  Cowper  has  shown  us  what  he  /V, 
and  Pope  what,  as  a  complete  Poet,  he  should 
have  been,  still  I  confess  the  exertion  and  the 
execution  very  extraordinary,  and  very  ingen- 
ious, considering  it  as  made  in  advanced  life, 
and  by  a  Gentleman  whose  attention  and  whose 
labours  were,  thro'  his  youth  and  middle  life, 
thrown  into  paths  widely  distant  from  the 
classic  and  poetic  haunts. 

"  When  you  observe  that  after  a  first  read- 
ing of  Homer,  abreast  with  his  consummate 
Translator,  a  man  of  taste  and  genius  would 

prefer  the  English  to  the  Greek  Poem,  you  say 
207 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

everything  for  Pope ;  and  when  you  add  but 
let  that  same  man  read  Homer  ten  times,  and 
he  will  find  Homer  rise  and  Pope  sink,  it  is 
in  fact  only  that  prejudice  prevails  over  fair 
comparison.  The  ear  becomes  so  seduced,  so 
fascinated  by  the  charms  of  a  language,  much 
more  sonorous  than  our  own,  that  the  flattest 
and  coarsest  passages,  passing  thro'  that  har- 
monious medium,  delight  the  beguiled  fancy 
more  than  the  purest  poetry  in  our  own  less 
magnificent  tongue.  We  all  know  how  fond 
even  the  mere  Editor  becomes  of  the  Author 
whose  works  he  studies  and  gives  to  the 
World.  Upon  the  Translator  that  partiality 
comes  with  treble  force  and  accumulation,  till, 
like  the  passionate  Lover,  he  either  becomes 
blind  to  the  defects  of  his  Idol,  or  fancies  them 
excellencies. 

"  Pope  separates  the  dross  from  the  gold  of 
Homer,  and  for  the  dross  substitutes  intrinsic 
gems.  Of  this  Homer's  Idolators  complain ; 
but  if  these  gems  be  of  the  purest^  as  well  as  of 
the  brightest  lustre ;  if  they  be  pearls  and  dia- 
monds, and  not  tinsel  and  glass ;  if  they  con- 
vey picture  and  imagery,  life  and  motion,  in 

the  place  of  plain  narrative,  or  perhaps  unin- 
208 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

teresting  mention,  then  surely  it  must  be  par- 
Hal  taste  which  hkes  the  poetry  best  which  is 
least  poetic.  Why  then  read  it  in  Enghsh  verse 
at  all '?  Why  not  prefer  the  literal  prose  trans- 
lation? That  is  the  plain  food.  All  poetry, 
which  deserves  its  name,  is  certainly,  to  pursue 
your  figure,  a  made  dish,  composed  of  various 
ingredients — of  allegory,  metaphor,  simile,  por- 
traiture, scenery,  bold  and  grand  thoughts  and 
sentiments,  hyperbole,  within  proper  bounds, 
and  all  conveyed  in  the  "  high-enwoven  har- 
monies" of  verse,  blank,  or  in  rhyme. 

"  I  do  not  understand  what  is  meant  by 
Modern  Poetry,  as  degradingly  spoken.  If  the 
best  of  our  Poets'  composition  since  Dryden 
and  Pope  to  the  present  hour,  they  are  a  Host 
in  strength,  beauty,  and  number,  and  have  writ- 
ten in  all  manner  of  styles.  For  the  magnifi- 
cent, we  have  Akenside,  Thomson,  Collins,  Dr. 
Johnson.  Mason,  Gray,  Chatterton,  Darwin — 
and  the  sublime  Joanna  Baillie ;  in  the  simpler 
style,  Shenstone,  Beattie,  Cowper,  Crowe, 
Bowles,  Burns,  Bloomfield,  Walter  Scott,  and 
his  school ;  Coleridge,  Southey,  and  their 
school.  Poetry  can  have  no  nobler  models 
than  these  supply  to  her  various  styles.  Modern 
14  209 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Poetry  In  all  ages,  must,  in  justice,  be  so  termed 
beneath  the  consideration  of  its  greatest  ex- 
amples ;  not  by  the  herd  of  Poetasters,  who 
pour  their  trash  from  the  Press,  with  and  with- 
out rhyme,  and  have  so  poured  it  from  Chaucer's 
day  to  our  own. 

"  111  betide  the  Dealers  in  metre  who,  after 
the  manner  of  the  English  Della-Cruscans, 
Merry,  and  his  Imitators,  exhibit  ideas  of  labo- 
rious inflation,  unnatural  conceits,  incongruous 
metaphors,  and  violent  hyperbole,  and,  dressing 
them  up  in  well-sounding  numbers,  called  the 
trash  Poetry. 

"  Pope  was  not  of  that  Tribe,  neither  any  of 
his  brother-Bards  whom  I  have  mentioned. 
Of  him^  and  of  them^  it  may  be  justly  said,  that 
however  they  may  differ  from  each  other  in 
their  preference  of  the  magnificent  or  the  plainer 
diction,  their  works  glow  with  the  strong  light 
of  Genius,  such  as  is  able  to  pierce  the  clouds 
of  Time,  and  of  contemporary  jealousy,  and  to 
make  their  fame  go  bright'ning  on  its  course 
to  distant  ages. 

"  You  give  Pope  involuntary  acquittal  for 
making  Homer's  prose  poetry^  at  least  respect- 
ing his  catalogue  of  the  Grecian  ships,  when 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

you  say  you  found  the  impossibility  of  trans- 
lating it  without  following  his  example.  Why 
then  reflect  on  him  for  setting  it  ?  Certainly 
his  local  enumeration  is  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful parts  of  his  version.  It  shows  what  genius 
and  judgment  can  do  with  the  most  barren 
materials.  Do  you  blame  him  for  ransacking 
dictionaries,  as  you  term  it,  to  acquire  an  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  the  situation  and  properties 
of  the  places  he  must  mention,  that  so  truth 
might  support  his  landscape-painting^ 

"  Their  mere  calling  over,  as  in  Homer,  must 
have  made  fine  Bell-man's  verses,  truly,  in  Eng- 
lish ;  as  it  is  managed  in  Pope's  Homer,  the 
Reader  must  be  an  owl,  if  he  does  not  see  the 
Country,  or  City  mentioned,  rise  before  him, 
and  feel  himself,  not  only  entertained,  but  in- 
structed concerning  the  situation  and  produce 
for  which  it  is  most  remarkable.  We  are  thus 
spared  the  trouble  of  ransacking  dictionaries^  if 
we  were  disposed  to  take  it.  Pope  was  obliged 
to  translate  this  catalogue,  and  since  you  allow 
there  is  no  possibility  of  doing  it  in  plain 
rhythm,  pray  pardon  him  that  he  bowed  to  the 
necessity  of  making  it  poetry. 

"My  criticisms  on  your  24th  Iliad  would 

311 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

only  waste  your  time  and  mine  in  fruitless 
consideration,  since  we  should  investigate  on  an 
entirely  different  principle.  That  which  appears 
to  me  defect  in  all  verse,  viz.  that  it  is  not  poetry^ 
appears  to  you  a  plainness  which  is  desirable. 
I  am  very  far  indeed  from  considering  stilted 
language,  unsupported  by  the  essentials  of 
poetry,  as  admirable ;  poverty  of  ideas  "  gaily 
tricked  out  in  gaudy  raggedness"  is  no  reading 
for  me  while  affluence  of  imagination,  in  the 
simplest  language,  charms  me.  No  verse  was 
ever  more  enchanting  to  me  than  Southey's 
*  Madoc'  Pope's  Homer  is  not  so  dear.  Every 
page  of  the  former  presents  to  me  some  noble 
sentiment,  some  vivid  image,  that  while  it 
tempts  the  pencil  transcends  its  power ;  some 
impassioned  tenderness  that  sinks  into  the 
heart. 

"  In  the  24th  Iliad  of  yours  one  of  the  coup- 
lets is  highly  poetic. 

But  when  Aurora,  bright  with  rosy  dyes. 
Rose  \n  full  glory  up  the  vaulted  skies, 

yet  it  seems  the  description  of  the  consummate 
day  rather  than  of  that  early  morning,  so  dis- 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

criminated  in  Pope's  translation  of  the  same 
lines : 

Soon  as  Aurora,  daughter  of  the  dawn. 
With  rosy  lustre  streak' d  the  dewy  lawn. 

Your  couplet  has  all  the  harmony  and  the 
brilliance,  but  not  the  temporal  appropriation 
of  Pope's.  The  words  streak! d  and  dewy  mark 
the  hour  immediately  succeeding  the  dawn  of 
twilight.  That  happy  precision  is  one  of  the 
principal  excellencies  of  Pope's  poetry.  So  is 
it  of  Southey's,  whose  style  is  so  different  from 
his.  Of  mere  style^  so  it  be  not  coarse  or  mean, 
I  make  little  point.  If  the  poetic  essentials 
exist,  I  am  indifferent  whether  I  meet  them  in 
the  simple  robe,  which  folds  round  a  statue, 
like  the  dress  of  Southey's  muse,  or  in  the 
floating,  purple,  and  gemm'd  tiara  which  invests 
that  of  Pope. 

"  Amongst  his  many  landscapes,  I  know  of 
only  one  which  wants  appropriation,  nay  abso- 
lutely violates  it,  and  that,  as  I  mentioned  to 
you  before,  is  his  celebrated  close  of  the  8th 
*  Iliad.' 

"  By  its  recollection  I  was  induced  to  send 
you  a  moon-light  view  of  mine,  flattering  my- 
self that  it  possesses  that  truth  to  nature  which 
213 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Pope's  wants.  You  tell  me  you  think  the 
lines  '  too  poetic,  too  highly  polished,  which 
tends  to  obscure  their  meaning.'  How  de- 
scriptive poetry  can  be  too  poetic,  I  have  no 
idea.  Obscurity  of  meaning  is  certainly  one 
of  the  worst  faults  verse  can  have.  [Four  lines 
of  the  letter  are  here  cut  away.  They  seem  to 
have  consisted  of  a  defence  of  the  directness 
and  accuracy  of  the  description  previously 
quoted,  on  p.  205,  of  the  lunar  evening  on  the 
sea  shore.]  No  circumstance  is  in  my  scene, 
which  I  had  not  literally  beheld  on  the  preced- 
ing night. 

"  Upon  reading  your  objections,  I  reex- 
amined the  passage  with  deep  attention,  and 
put  it  to  the  ordeal,  which  I  long  since  insti- 
tuted for  the  detection  of  ambiguous  meaning 
in  poetry,  viz.  throwing  it  into  prose.  Be  it, 
however,  remembered,  that  verbal  transposition 
is  an  allowed  poetic  license,  and  is  asserted  to 
produce  a  fine  classical  effect  in  English  poetry. 
The  French  language  will  not  bear  it,  and 
hence  its  poetry  never  rises  above  the  pretty ^  and 
the  elegant. 

"  Whoever  fancies  that  verbal  transposition 

obscures  the  sense  in  our  verse,  must  possess 
214 


MR.  LLOYD'S   « ILIAD" 

the  lynx's  beam  if  he  can  discern  it  in  the 
Greek  and  Latin,  where  that  habit  of  style  is 
perpetual  and  in  an  infinitely  greater  latitude 
than  is  ever  ventured  upon  by  our  Poets,  even 
by  Milton,  the  boldest  and  most  extensive  of 
all  his  Brethren  in  the  use  of  that  privilege.  I 
might  have  excepted  Spenser ;  but  as  I  am  not 
one  of  that  Poet's  indiscriminate  admirers,  I 
would  not  follow  him  as  an  example  nor  cite 
him  as  authority. 

"  It  appears  to  me  that  my  lines  are  acquitted 
of  the  imputed  obscurity  by  the  experiment 
made  upon  them.  I  inclose  it  for  your  perusal, 
and  remain.  Sir,  with  much  respect  and  regard 

[Signature  cut  away.] 

"  Lichfield,  April  ii,  1808." 

On  the  following  page  is  the  paraphrase,  intro- 
duced thus : — 

"A  passage  in  Anna  Seward's  unpublished 
and  unfinished  Poem,  '  Telemachus,'  put  into 
Prose,  as  a  criterion  whether  or  not  the  descrip- 
tion be  obscure.  All  the  verbal  variations  are 
synonisms,  substituted  to  take  it  out  of  rhyme 
and  measure :" — 

215 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

The  moon,  now  consummate,  sheds  her  lambent  glories 
over  the  still  noon  of  Midnight.  Where  the  limitary- 
line  of  the  horizon  meets  the  gloomed  sea,  and  appears 
its  last  boundary,  she  stands  serene,  diffusing  thro*  the 
hush'd  billows  her  lunar  morning  into  the  caverns  of  the 
Deep.  And,  as,  from  sportive  Boy,  prone  descending 
sinks  into  the  glassy  pool  the  ponderous  stone,  wave  gains 
upon  wave,  while  the  lake  separates,  widening  the  lucid 
tides '  into  convex  spheres,  so  in  the  sky,  divergent  on  all 
sides  from  her  orbit,  skirts  of  milky  light  absorb  the  sur- 
rounding darkness,  flush  round  and  round,  then  again 
gently  flush,  kindling  at  once  the  horizon  and  the  ocean, 
while  over  the  darksome  waters,  a  gemmed  path  streams 
from  her  silvery  circlet  to  the  edge  of  the  shore. 

Sleepless  Calypso  wanders,  and  feels  the  stings  which 
doubtful  hope  brings  to  new-born  passion.  She  wanders, 
what  time,  ascending  from  the  billows,  the  fair  Moon 
•climbs  the  dusky  ethereal  steep.  Her  beams  illuminate 
the  summits  of  the  rocks  and  hills.  Glens  and  fields  steal 
faintly  thro'  the  dusk.  The  brooks  gleam  blue  amid 
irriguous  vallies,  their  mists  curling  slowly  as  they  wind 
away ;  and  dew-sprent  meadows,  yet  more  clearly  dis- 
cerned, tho*  lost  the  lively  green,  and  floral  tints  which 
drank  the  light  of  the  gaudy  day,  now  glistening,  whiten 
in  the  milder  effulgence.  More  and  yet  more  light  the 
emergent  landscape  receives,  till  the  whole  scene  reigns  in 
pale  distinctness. 

'"  There  is  no  obscurity  or  contradiction   [wrote  Miss  Seward]   in 
giving  the  name  of  tides  to  smooth  and  currentless  waters,  because  the 
Poets    have  united  to  apply  that  term  to  water  of  every  description — 
calm  tide,  glassy  tide,  smooth  tide,  &c." 
2l6 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

This,  surely,  is  word-painting.  One  leaves 
Miss  Seward  with  a  fuller  sense  of  Scott's  em- 
barrassments as  her  literary  executor. 

In  another  kind  was  Southey's  practical  and 
characteristic  reply  to  Mr.  Lloyd  : — 

"Keswick,  June  15,  1808. 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you,  Sir,  for  your 
translation  of  the  last  Book  of  the  '  Iliad.'  It 
would  be  a  highly  respectable  version  from  any 
hand,  and  must  be  considered  as  a  very  extra- 
ordinary one  for  one  who  has  not  been  long 
practised  in  the  art  of  versifying. 

"  In  writing  verse  myself  I  seldom  or  never 
elongate  a  word  to  three  syllables  which  is 
commonly  and  naturally  pronounced  as  two. 
It  appears  to  me  that  any  such  attenuation  of 
sound  weakens  the  rhythm  of  the  line — for  in- 
stance, you  have  written, 

How  brave  he  was,  how  generous  and  true : 

this  line  is  far  less  sonorous  than  another  in 
which  the  same  word  is  used  as  a  dissyllable — 

Thy  form,  thy  countenance  and  generous  mind. 

So  also 

Pelides  satiate  at  length  with  grief: 
217 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

the  sound  of  the  Hne  would  be  strengthened  if 
the  word  '  satisfied'  were  substituted. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  such  a  word  as  askest 
cannot  be  made  into  a  monosyllable  (tho' 
certainly  it  is  often  done)  without  producing 
a  harsh  and  unpleasant  effect.  You  have 
authority  enough  in  both  cases,  but  the  ear  is 
the  best  and  only  sure  criterion,  and  whenever 
that  is  disappointed  of  the  full  sound  which  it 
expects,  or  is  jarred  by  a  harsh  one  which  it 
does  not  expect,  unless  the  passage  itself  affords 
an  especial  reason  for  the  variety,  the  line  may 
be  pronounced  faulty. 

"  The  couplet  is  to  me  a  wearying  measure, 

and  I  have  sometimes  found  that  the  terza  rima 

of  the  Italians  might  with  great  advantage  be 

used  in  its  stead,  in  the  translation  of  Homer, 

Virgil,  or  any  of  the  classical  narrative  poets. 

Stanzas  cannot  be  used,  because  they  require  a 

regular  length  of  period  not  to  be  found  in  the 

original :   the  terza  rima  would    have  all   the 

charm  of  rhyme,  with  the  advantage  of  con- 

tinuousness.     The  common  quatrain  might  also 

be  written  continuously,  after  the  example  of 

Mason,  and  it  was  the  opinion  of  Dryden  that 

this  was  the  noblest  English  metre.     I  differ 

218 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

from  him — but  the  opinion  of  Dryden  on  such 
a  subject  is  a  weighty  one. 

"  It  has  often  been  doubted  whether  literature 
be  the  worthy  occupation  of  a  man's  life.  I 
believe  it  is,  and  have  acted  accordingly.  But 
it  can  never  be  doubted  that  it  is  the  worthiest 
amusement  of  leisure,  after  the  business  of  life 
is  done. 

"  Believe  me, 

"  Yours  with  respect, 

"  Robert  Southey." 

Among  other  persons  to  whom  a  copy  of  the 
translation  was  sent  was  Thomas  Clarkson,  the 
abolitionist,  who,  working  with  William  Wil- 
berforce,  found  a  strong  ally  in  Mr.  Lloyd. 
Clarkson  differed  from  Miss  Seward :  "  I  have 
read  your  Homer,"  he  wrote,  "  with  much 
pleasure,  liking  it  better  than  that  of  either  Pope 
or  of  Cowper." 

Lamb  did  not  see  the  translation  until  1809, 

after  Robert's  visit  to  town ;  but  when  it  did 

reach  him  it  interested  him  greatly,   and  he 

plunged  with  kindly  energy  into  criticism.    His 

first  letter  to  Mr.  Lloyd  on  the  subject,  dated 

June  1 3,  1 809,  began  thus  : — 
219 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  received  with  great  pleasure 
the  mark  of  your  remembrance  which  you 
were  pleased  to  send  me,  the  Translation  from 
Homer.  You  desire  my  opinion  of  it.  I  think 
it  is  plainer  and  more  to  the  purpose  than 
Pope's,  though  it  may  want  some  of  his 
Splendour  and  some  of  his  Sound.  Yet  I  do 
not  remember  in  any  part  of  his  translation  a 
series  of  more  manly  versification  than  the 
conference  of  Priam  with  Hermes  in  your 
translation  (Lines  499  to  530),  or  than  that 
part  of  the  reply  of  Achilles  to  Priam,  begin- 
ning with  the  fable  of  the  Two  Urns  (in  page 
24)  ;  or  than  the  Story  of  Niobe  which  follows 
a  little  after.  I  do  not  retain  enough  of  my 
Greek  (to  my  shame  I  say  it)  to  venture  at  an 
opinion  of  the  correctness  of  your  version. 
What  I  seem  to  miss,  and  what  certainly  every- 
body misses  in  Pope,  is  a  certain  savage-like 
plainness  of  speaking  in  Achilles — a  sort  of 
indelicacy — the  heroes  in  Homer  are  not  half 
civilized,  they  utter  all  the  cruel,  all  the  selfish, 
all  the  mean  thoughts  even  of  their  nature,  which 
it  is  the  fashion  of  our  great  men  to  keep  in. 
I  cannot,  in  lack  of  Greek,  point  to  any  one 
place — but  I  remember  the  general  feature  as  I 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

read  him  at  school.  But  your  principles  and 
turn  of  mind  would,  I  have  no  doubt,  lead  you 
to  civilize  his  phrases,  and  sometimes  to  half 
christen  them." 

[Here  Lamb's  letter,  which  then  comes  to 
particulars,  might  be  interrupted  to  quote  one 
of  the  passages  he  best  liked,  the  conference  of 
Priam  with  Hermes : — 


The  old  man  answer'd — "  If  thou  truly  art 

Of  fierce  Achilles'  family  a  part. 

Tell  me,  oh  tell,  if  noble  Hector  lies 

Still  in  the  tent,  depriv'd  of  obsequies  ; 

Or  has  Achilles  in  an  evil  hour. 

Thrown  him  to  dogs  in  piece-meal  to  devour  ?" 

The  swift-wing'd  messenger  replied  and  said, 

**  Neither  the  vultures  nor  the  dogs  have  made 

A  prey  of  Hector's  corpse,  which  lies  yet  sound 

Within  the  tent,  neglected  on  the  ground. 

Twelve  mornings  now  are  past  since  he  was  slain. 

But  still  the  skin  its  freshness  doth  retain ; 

The  worms,  which  make  of  warriors  dead  a  prey. 

From  this  dead  body  have  been  kept  away ; 

Our  chief,  when  morning  brightens  up  the  skies. 

The  noble  Hector  to  his  chariot  ties. 

And  drags  him  round  his  dear  Patroclus'  tomb ; 

But  still  the  dead  retains  his  youthful  bloom : 

The  blood  all  washed  away,  no  stains  appear. 

The  numerous  wounds  are  clos'd,  the  skin  is  clear ; 

221 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Thus  round  thy  son,  the  care  of  heaven  is  spread. 
It  loved  him  living,  and  it  guards  him  dead." 
These  words  reviv'd  the  aged  king,  who  said, 
"  'Tis  right  that  sacrifice  and  gifts  be  paid 
To  the  immortals,  and  the  pious  mind 
Of  noble  Hector  ever  was  inclin'd 
To  honour  them,  while  here  he  drew  his  breath } 
And  hence  have  they  remember'd  him  in  death. 
Accept  for  all  the  kindness  thou  hast  shown. 
This  golden  cup,  and  keep  it  as  thine  own. 
And  if  it  please  thee,  with  the  gods'  consent. 
Conduct  me  safely  to  Achilles'  tent." 

The  letter  continued]  :  "  I  have  marked  a  few 
verbal  slips,  the  doing  of  which  cannot  be 
called  criticism,  or  it  is  as  if  a  Reviewer  being 
taken  ill,  his  printer's  Compositor  or  Reader 
were  called  to  supply   his  place." 

Many  of  the  suggestions  that  follow  are  too 
slight  to  bear  reproduction ;  but  many,  again, 
have  life,  and  vigourous  life,  of  their  own. 
Textual  criticism  was  an  art  in  which  Lamb 
pre-eminently  shone.  Thus : — "  Lines  243, 
244,  245  are  the  flattest  lines  in  the  whole : 

But  now  be  open,  and  declare  thy  mindy 
For  I  confess  I  feel  myself  inclined, 
222 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

Indeed  impelPd  by  Jove's  command  to  go. 
And  face  the  man  the  cause  of  all  our  woe — "' 

is  the  cool  language  of  a  Man  and  his  Wife 
upon  ordinary  occurrences  over  a  peaceable 
fireside — not  the  waverings  of  a  divinely-im- 
pelled, humanly-shrinking,  Priam  striving  to 
bolster  up  his  own  half-doubting  inspirations 
by  infusing  a  courage  which  he  does  not  feel 
into  the  aged  partner  of  his  throne,  that  she 
may  give  it  back  to  him.  I  should  not  have 
exprest  myself  thus  petulantly,  if  there  were 
many  more,  or  indeed  any  more  such  Lines  in 
the  Translation,  but  they  stopt  the  current  of 
my  feeling  in  the  place,  and  I  hope  you  will 
pardon  my  expressions." 

Here    are    other     comments    referring    to 
naiho^ovoLO  in  the  line  (506) 

d.v8p6q  Ttaidofpovoto  izori  aToixa  x^^P^  Spiyeffdac. 

Lamb  wrote :  "  I  don't  know  Homer's  word, 
not  having  my  books  about  me,  but  surely  in 
English,  Priam  would  have  said  the  Slayer  of 

'  Iliad  xxiv,  196-9  : 
'A^X  aye  fioi  rdde  eItce,  t'i  toi  (ppealv  elSsTat  elvai ; 
a'lvug  yap  fi'  avrdv  ye  fihvog  kol  6vfibg  avuyei 
Keld"  levai  eirt  v^ag  iau  arpaTov  evpvv  'Axaiuv. 
223 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

my  Son^  not  call'd  Achilles  murderer^  at  such  a 
time.  That  is  rather  too  plain  for  the  homely- 
speaking  Homeric  Heroes."  Again,  Mr.  Lloyd 
had  translated  rvfijSov  in  the  line  (666) 

ivdexdrrj  di  ze  ruji^uv  in  aurtu  noiTjffai/xev, 

and  anua  in  lines  799  and  801,  "tumulus." 
Lamb  objected :  "  Tumulus  is  too  much  like 
making  Homer  talk  Latin.  Tumulus  is  always 
spoken  by  an  English  mouth  with  a  conscious- 
ness of  scientific  attainment.  Priam  and  his  Peo- 
ple were  no  scholars — plain  downright  fighting 
men." 

And  of  Mr.  Lloyd's  use  of  the  word  "  min- 
strels" for  Homer's  aoihovq  (singers),  in  the  line 
(720) 

rprjTolq  iv  Xs'j^eiaai  diaav^  izapa  S'tiaav  ioidouq 

his  critic   said  :    "  Minstrels,  I  suspect  to  be  a 

word  bringing  merely  English  or  English  ballad 

feelings  to  the  Mind.     It  expresses   the   thing 

and  something  more,  as  to  say  Sarpedon  was  a 

Gentleman,  or  as  somebody  translated  Paul's 

address  '  Ye  men  of  Athens,'  '  Gentlemen  of 

Athens.' " 

Lamb  concluded :    "  I  am  sure  I  ought  to 
224 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

make  many  apologies  for  the  freedom  I  have 
taken,  but  it  will  at  least  convince  you  that  I 
have  read  the  Book — which  I  have  twice,  and 
the  last  time  with  more  pleasure,  because  more 
at  leisure.  I  wish  you  Joy  of  an  Amusement 
which  I  somehow  seem  to  have  done  with. 
Excepting  some  Things  for  Children,  I  have 
scarce  chimed  ten  couplets  in  the  last  as  many 
years.  Be  pleased  to  give  my  most  kind  re- 
membrances to  Mrs.  Lloyd  ;  and  please  to  tell 
Robert  that  my  Sister  is  getting  well,  and  I 
hope  will  soon  be  able  to  take  pleasure  in  his 
affectionate  Epistle.  My  Love  also  to  Charles, 
when  you  write. 

"  I  am.  Sir,  with  the  greatest  [the  last 
few  words,  including  signature,  have  been  cut 
away.] 

"  13  June,     09,  Temple 

"  Robert  will  have  told  you  how  pleased  I 
was  with  your  truly  Horatian  Epistle  in  the 
Gent.  Mag" 

The  truly  Horatian  Epistle  was  a  translation 

of  the  first  Epistle  of  the  First  Book,  "To 

Maecenas,"  contributed  by  Mr.  Lloyd,  as  part 

of  a  series,  to  the    Gentletnati's  Magazine   for 

15  225 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

March,  1 809.    To  his  Horatian  experiments  we 
come,  however,  later. 

To  the  foregoing  letter  the  translator  seems 
to  have  replied,  taking  exception  to  some  of 
his  critic's  remarks ;  but  asking  him  for  similar 
advice  in  the  future.  Lamb's  answer  came 
quickly : — 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  can  only  say  that  I  shall  be 
most  happy  to  see  anything  that  you  can  send 
me  at  any  time  that  has  reference  to  your  newly 
taken  up  pursuits.  I  will  faithfully  return  the 
Manuscript  with  such  observations  as  a  mere 
acquaintance  with  English,  and  with  English 
Poetry,  may  suggest.  I  dare  not  dictate  in 
Greek.  I  am  Homo  unius  lingua — your  vindi- 
cation of  the  Lines  which  I  had  objected  to 
makes  me  ashamed  of  the  unimportance  of  my 
remarks  :  they  were  not  worth  confuting.  Only 
on  Line  33,  Page  4,  I  still  retain  my  opinion 
that  it  should  be  '  were  made.' 

All  seem'd  to  wish  that  such  attempt  were  made. 
Save  Juno,  Neptune,  and  the  blue-ey'd  maid.' 

*  Mr.  Lloyd  had  written  : 

All  seem'd  to  wish  that  such  attempt  be  made, 

Sdve  Juno,  Neptune,  and  the  blue-eye'd  maid. 

226 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ILIAD" 

1  am  glad  to  see  you  venture  made  and  maia 
for  rhymes  '  Tis  true  their  sound  is  the  same. 
But  the  mind  occupied  in  revolving  the  dif- 
ferent meaning  of  two  words  so  literally  the 
same,  is  diverted  from  the  objection  which  the 
mere  Ear  would  make,  and  to  the  mind  it  is 
rhyme  enough  I  had  not  noticed  it  till 
this  moment  of  transcribing  the  couplet.  A 
timidity  of  Rhyming,  whether  of  bringing  to- 
gether sounds  too  near,  or  too  remote  to  each 
other,  is  a  fault  of  the  present  day.  The  old 
English  poets  were  richer  in  their  diction,  as 
they  were  less  scrupulous.*  I  shall  expect  your 
MS.  with  curiosity 
"  I  am.  Sir, 

"  Yours  with  great  respect, 

«  C.  Lamb." 


'  Christopher  Wordsworth  thought  otherwise  concerning  loose  rhym- 
ing. In  a  letter  to  Robert  Mr.  Lloyd  wrote  :  "  Wordsworth  thinks 
my  translation  of  the  24th  book  of  the  •  Iliad'  does  me  credit,  and  is 
very  faithful  to  the  original ;  but  he  is  too  nice  about  rhymes — he 
thinks  *  steal'  and  '  prevail'  do  not  quite  suit.  I  believe  the  Londoners 
pronounce  'steal'  'steel,'  but  we  pronounce  it  'stale' — however  there 
are  very  few  rhymes  of  this  kind.  What  would  he  say  to  Pope,  who 
uses  *  prepare' 

'ear,'  &c.  &c.  ? 

But  there  is  more  nicety  in  verse  now  than  there  was  50  years  ago." 
227 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

*'  My  kind  remembrances  to  Robert.  I  shall 
soon  have  a  little  parcel  to  send  him.  I  am 
very  sorry  to  hear  of  the  ill-health  of  Sophia. 

**  Temple,  19  June,     09." 


228 


XIII 

MR.  Lloyd's  "odyssey" 
1 809-1810 

The  little  parcel  to  which  Lamb  referred  in 
his  postscript  came  in  due  course — the  "  Poetry 
for  Children" — and  with  it  the  following  note, 
which  tells  us  that  Mr.  Lloyd,  taking  his  critic 
at  his  word,  had  sent  the  manuscript  of  his 
version  of  the  first  two  books  of  the  "  Odyssey" 
for  Lamb's  consideration.  Lamb's  note,  which 
is  undated  but  belongs  to  1 809,  ran  : — 

"  Dear  Robert, — Make  my  apologies  to  your 

father  for  not  returning  his  '  Odyssey'  sooner, 

but  I  lent  it  to  a  friend  who  is  a  better  Grecian 

than  me,  to  make  remarks  on,  and  he  has  been 

so  busied  (he  is  a  Doctor  of  Laws)  that  I  have 

rescued  the  MSS.  from  him  at  last  by  force. 

He  has  written  a  few  observations.     I  send  you 

our  poems.     All  mine  are  marked  -\/  in  the 

contents.      The  rest  are  Mary's,  all    but   the 

'  Beggar  Man,'  which  is  my  brother's.      The 
229 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

farce  is  not  at  home,  but  you  shall  have  it  ere 
long. — What  follows  is  for  your  Father  to  see. 
— Mary  desires  her  remembrances." 

Lamb  then  introduced  his  little  sheaf  of 
suggestions  with  this  modest  note  to  Mr. 
Lloyd : — 

"  Dear  Sir, — A  friend  who  has  kept  your  MS. 
unreasonably  long  has  ventured  a  few  remarks 
on  the  first  Book.  And  I  have  twice  read  thro* 
both  with  care,  and  can  only  reprehend  a  few 
trifling  expressions  with  my  scanty  knowledge 
of  Greek.  I  thank  you  for  the  reading  of  them, 
and  assure  you  they  read  to  me  beautifully 
simple  and  in  the  manner  of  the  original  as  far 
as  I  understand  it. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  C.  L. 

"  My  kind  respects  to  Mrs.  Lloyd." 

A  few  of  Lamb's  emendations  follow,  most 
of  which  Mr.  Lloyd  adopted  when  he  came  to 
print. 

Mr.  Lloyd  at  first  had  rendered  (Book  L  line 
8)  ^ovg  'E8?aoLO  "  Bullocks  of  the  Sun."     Thus 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ODYSSEY" 

Lamb : — "  Oxen  of  the  Sun,  I  conjure.  Bul- 
locks is  too  Smithfield  and  sublunary  a  Word. 
Oxen  of  the  Sun,  or  of  Apollo,  but  in  any 
case  not  Bullocks."  Again,  Mr.  Lloyd  had 
written  (Book  I.  line  69) : — 

The  Cyclops'  Eye  still  rankles  in  his  breast. 

Lamb  remarked :  "  *  The  Cyclops'  Eye  still 
rankles  in  his  Breast.'  Here  is  an  unlucky 
confusion  of  literal  with  figurative  language. 
One  Man's  Eye  rankles  in  another  Breast. 
*  Cyclops'  wrongs'  would  do  better." 

For  Homer's  ^atrpo^  and  xn^v^  (Book  L 
lines  141,  143)  Mr.  Lloyd  offered  Cook  and 
Butler.  "  These  sound,"  said  Lamb,  "  too 
modern-kitchenish.  One  might  be  called  an 
officer  or  servitor,  the  other  a  server.  Milton 
speaks  of  these  things  as  the  office  mean  '  of 
sewer  and  seneschall.'"  Perhaps  sewer  is  too 
old.  But  Cook  and  Butler  are  too  like  mod- 
ern Establishments." 

Passing  over  several  minor  corrections,  we 
come  to  this  sound  objection  to  Mr.  Lloyd's 

»  ««  Paradise  Lost,"  Book  IX.,  37  t — 

Marshall'd  feast, 
Serv'd  up  in  hall  with  sewers  and  seneschals. 
231 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

employment  of  a  flagrant  modernism :  "  Un- 
affected Grace.  Is  there  any  word  in  Homer 
to  express  affectation?  I  think  not.  Then 
certainly  he  has  no  such  idea  as  unaffected.'' 

The  "  friend's"  remarks,  which  accompany 
Lamb's,  are  less  piquantly  expressed. 

A  few  days  later,  probably  on  the  receipt  of 
a  reply  from  Mr.  Lloyd,  Lamb  wrote  more 
fully  concerning  this  particular  translation,  and 
translations  of  Homer  in  general : — 

"July  31,  1809. 
"  Dear  Sir, — The  general  impression  made 
by  your  Translation  on  the  mind  of  my  friend, 
who  kept  your  MS.  so  unreasonably  long,  as 
well  as  on  another  friend  who  read  over  a 
good  part  of  it  with  me,  was  that  it  gave  a 
great  deal  more  of  the  sense  of  Homer  than 
either  of  his  two  great  modern  Translators  have 
done.  In  several  expressions  which  they  at 
first  objected  to,  on  turning  to  the  Greek  they 
found  it  completely  warranted  you  in  the  use 
of  them ;  and  they  were  even  surprised  that 
you  could  combine  so  much  fidelity  with  so 
much  of  the  turn  of  the  best  modern  improve- 
ments in  the  Couplet  versification.  I  think  of 
232 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ODYSSEY" 

the  two,  I  rather  prefer  the  Book  of  the  Iliad 
which  you  sent  me,  for  the  sound  of  the  verse ; 
but  the  difference  of  subject  almost  involun- 
tarily modifies  verse.  I  find  Cowper  is  a  fav- 
ourite with  nobody.  His  injudicious  use  of 
the  stately  slow  Miltonic  verse  in  a  subject  so 
very  different  has  given  a  distaste.  Nothing 
can  be  more  unlike  to  my  fancy  than  Homer 
and  Milton.  Homer  is  perfect  prattle,  tho'  ex- 
quisite prattle,  compared  to  the  deep  oracular 
voice  of  Milton.  In  Milton  you  love  to  stop, 
and  saturate  your  mind  with  every  great  image 
or  sentiment ;  in  Homer  you  want  to  go  on, 
to  have  more  of  his  agreeable  narrative. 
Cowper  delays  you  as  much,  walking  over  a 
Bowling  Green,  as  the  other  does,  travelling 
over  steep  Alpine  heights,  where  the  labour 
enters  into  and  makes  a  part  of  the  pleasure. 
From  what  I  have  seen,  I  would  certainly  be 
glad  to  hear  that  you  continued  your  employ- 
ment quite  through  the  Poem :  that  is,  for  an 
agreeable  and  honourable  recreation  to  your- 
self; though  I  should  scarce  think  that  (Pope 
having  got  the  ground)  a  translation  in  Pope's 
Couplet  versification  would  ever  supersede  his 
to  the  public,  however  faithfuller  or  in  some 
233 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

respects  better.  Pitt's  Virgil  is  not  much  read, 
I  believe,  though  nearer  to  the  Original  than 
Dryden's.  Perhaps  it  is,  that  people  do  not 
like  two  Homers  or  Virgils — there  is  a  sort  of 
confusion  in  it  to  an  English  reader,  who  has 
not  a  centre  of  reference  in  the  Original :  when 
Tate  and  Brady's  Psalms  came  out  in  our 
Churches,  many  pious  people  would  not  sub- 
stitute them  in  the  room  of  David's,  as  they 
call'd  Sternhold  and  Hopkins's.  But  if  you 
write  for  a  relaxation  from  other  sort  of  occu- 
pations I  can  only  congratulate  you,  Sir,  on 
the  noble  choice,  as  it  seems  to  me,  which  you 
have  made,  and  express  my  wonder  at  the 
facility  which  you  suddenly  have  arrived  at,  if 
(as  I  suspect)  these  are  indeed  the  first  speci- 
mens of  this  sort  which  you  have  produced. 
But  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  you  betray  a 
more  practiced  gait  than  a  late  beginner  could 
so  soon  acquire.  Perhaps  you  have  only  re- 
sumed, what  you  had  formerly  laid  aside  as  in- 
terrupting more  necessary  avocations. 

"  I  need  not  add  how  happy  I  shall  be  to  see 

at  any  time  what  you  may  please  to  send  me. 

In  particular,  I  should  be  glad  to  see  that  you 

had  taken  up  Horace,  which  I  think  you  enter 

234 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ODYSSEY" 

into  as  much  as  any  man  that  was  not  born  in 
his  days,  and  in  the  Via  Longa  or  F/aminia,  or 
near  the  Forum. 

"  With  many  apologies  for  keeping  your  MS. 
so  long,  which  my  friend's  engagements  in  busi- 
ness must  excuse, 

"  I  remain, 

"  Dear  Sir,  yours  truly, 

"  C.  L. 

"  My  kind  respects  to  Mrs.  LL,  and  my 
remembrances  to  Robert,  &c.,  &c." 

A  few  months  later,  early  in  1810,  Mr.  Lloyd 
had  the  first  seven  books  of  the  "  Odyssey" 
printed  as  a  companion  to  his  version  of  the 
"  Iliad."  The  title-page  of  the  little  book  bore 
no  name,  but  in  a  prefatory  note  it  was  stated 
that  "  This  attempt  to  preserve  in  English 
rhyme,  with  little  or  no  embellishment,  the 
noble  simplicity  of  the  original,  has  engaged 
some  of  the  leisure  hours  of  a  man  of  business, 
who,  till  near  his  sixtieth  year,  had  written  a 
few  trifles  only  in  verse,  and  this  circumstance, 
he  hopes,  will  plead  in  his  excuse  for  the 
deficiencies  which  a  critical  eye  will  observe 
in  this  volume." 

2ZS 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

A  copy  of  the  translation  was  speedily 
despatched  to  the  Temple,  and  Lamb  replied 
with  a  further  list  of  suggestions  and  the  fol- 
lowing letter : — 

"  My  dear  Sir, — The  above  are  all  the  faults 
I,  who  profess  myself  to  be  a  mere  English 
Reader,  could  find  after  a  scrupulous  perusal 
twice  over  of  your  neat  little  Book.  I  assure 
you  it  gave  me  great  pleasure  in  the  perusal, 
much  more  in  this  shape  than  in  the  Manu- 
script, and  I  should  be  very  sorry  you  should 
give  up  the  finishing  of  it  on  so  poor  pretence 
as  your  Age  [sixty-two],  which  is  not  so  much 
by  ten  years  as  Dryden's  when  he  wrote  his 
fables,  which  are  his  best  works  allowed,  and 
not  more  than  Milton's  when  he  had  scarce  en- 
tered upon  his  original  Epic  Poem.  You  have 
done  nearly  a  third ;  persevere  and  let  us  see 
the  whole.  I  am  sure  I  should  prize  it  for  its 
Homeric  plainness  and  truth  above  the  confed- 
erate jumble  of  Pope,  Broome  and  Fenton 
which  goes  under  Pope's  name,  and  is  far  in- 
ferior to  his  ILIAD.  I  have  picked  out  what 
I  think  blemishes,  but  they  are  but  a  score  of 

words  (I  am  a  mere  word  pecker)  in  six  times 
236 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ODYSSEY" 

as  many  pages.  The  rest  all  gave  me  pleasure, 
and  most  of  all  the  Book  [the  Sixth]  in  which 
Ulysses  and  Nausicaa  meet.  You  have  in- 
fused a  kind  of  biblical  patriarchal  manner 
into  it,  it  reads  like  some  story  of  Jacob  and 
Rachel,  or  some  of  those  primitive  manners. 
I  am  ashamed  to  carp  at  words,  but  I  did  it  in 
obedience  to  your  desires,  and  the  plain  reason 
why  I  did  not  acknowledge  your  kind  present 
sooner  was  that  I  had  no  criticisms  of  value  to 
make.  I  shall  certainly  beg  the  opinion  of  my 
friend  who  read  the  two  first  Books  on  this 
enlarged  Performance.  But  he  is  so  very  much 
engaged  that  I  cannot  at  present  get  at  him, 
and  besides  him  I  have  no  acquaintance  that 
takes  much  interest  in  Poetry,  Greek  or  Eng- 
lish. But  I  hope  and  adjure  you  to  go  on  and 
do  not  make  excuses  of  Age  till  you  have 
completed  the  Odyssey,  and  done  a  great  part 
of  Horace  besides.  Then  you  will  be  entitled 
to  hang  up  your  Harp. 

"  I   am,   dear   Sir,  with    Love   to  all   your 
family, 

"  Your  hble.  Serv., 

"C.  Lamb. 

*'  lo  Mar.  1810,  E.  L  Ho." 
237 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

In  Mr.  Lloyd's  translation  of  the  Sixth 
Book,  Nausicaa  thus  addressed  her  maidens  : — 

Why  do  ye  fly,  my  maids  ?  why  should  the  sight 

Of  this  poor  man  thus  fill  you  with  affright  ? 

He  is  not  like  a  fierce  invading  foe. 

Whose  savage  spirits  vigorously  flow  ; 

And  we  are  dear  to  heaven — the  ocean  roars 

Around  our  happy  and  sequester'd  shores : 

With  other  states  no  intercourse  we  hold  ; 

But  can  we  from  this  wanderer  withhold 

Our  friendly  aid  ?     The  stranger  and  the  poor 

Jove  sends  for  succour  to  the  rich  man's  door; 

The  smallest  gift  which  charity  imparts. 

Is  like  a  cordial  to  their  drooping  hearts. 

Now  wine  and  food  to  this  poor  mortal  bring. 

And  wash  his  body  in  the  flowing  spring ; 

But  to  some  shelter'd,  quiet  nook  repair. 

And  guard  his  shivering  limbs  from  chilling  air. 

The  passage  illustrates  Lamb's  comment. 
Mr.  Lloyd,  one  might  say,  Quakerised  Homer. 

A  few  of  Lamb's  suggestions  are  picked 
from  the  list.  Mr.  Lloyd  rendered  (Book  L, 
lines  163-5) : — 

Ei  xeTvov  y*  'I0dx7]v8e  iSoiaTO  voffTTJffavra, 
Ttdvreq  x'  Apr^aaiaT^  iXa<pp6Tspoi  ToSaq  elvat 
^  d-cpvetoTspoi  XpuffoTo  re  iffOr/Toq  re. 
238 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ODYSSEY" 

Should  he  return,  their  feet  would  soon  express 
How  much  swift  feet  excelled  parade  of  dress. 

The  comment  was : — " '  Parade  of  dress' 
strikes  the  ear  as  too  modern ;  though  in 
reality  the  modernest  English  is  not  more  re- 
moved from  Greek  than  the  ancientest,  yet  the 
imagination  is  unwilling  to  receive  a  word  in 
a  Translation  of  Homer  which  has  not  the 
sanction  of  years." 

Again,  Mr.  Lloyd  employed  "whelming 
tide"  as  an  equivalent  for  (Book  I.,  line  183) 
oivoTta  novrov  .  Said  Lamb  : — "  '  Whelming 
tide.'  A  bad  Epithet.  We  may  speak  of 
Vessels  sunk  beneath  the  whelming  tide,  but 
hardly  of  vessels  sailing  over  it.  It  is  a  prop- 
erty of  the  sea  to  overwhelm,  but  ships  riding 
over  it  do  not  naturally  remind  one  of  that 
property." 

Mr.  Lloyd  used  "patriotic."  Lamb  ob- 
jected :  "  Patriotic  strikes  my  ears  also  as  too 
modern.  Besides  that  in  English  few  words 
of  more  than  three  syllables  chime  well  into  a 
verse ;"  and  a  similar  nicety  of  feeling  for 
words  informed  his   objection   to   the   phrase 

"  express    his    sentiments."      Lamb   called   it 
239 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

"  modern  and  novel  phraseology.  I  mean  the 
phrase  of  novels.  The  word  sentiment  was 
scarcely  Anglicised  before  the  time  of  Steme." 
And  when  "  sentiment"  occurred  again  Lamb 
wrote  :  "  Sentiments — I  would  root  this  word 
out  of  a  translation  of  Homer.  It  came  in 
with  Sterne,  and  was  a  child  he  had  by  Affec- 
tation." 

In  the  third  Book  (lines  199-200)  Mr.  Lloyd 
rendered : — 

xai  ffh,  (piloi; — [idXa  yap  a  6p6io  xaXov  re  fiiyav  re — 
cikxtfjioq  eW,  'iva  Tt^  ffe  xai  6(^>iy6vojv  eu  ef;rjj, 

And  thou,  my  friend,  of  whom  I  augur  well. 
Be  brave,  and  strive  in  virtue  to  excel. 
That  thy  good  deeds  may  live  in  future  days. 
And  be  reported  with  deserved  praise. 

Lamb  remarked : — "  I  doubt  if  Homer  had  any 
such  an  idea  as  we  have  when  we  talk  of  striv- 
ing to  excel  in  virtue.  I  am  afraid  the  phrase 
is  more  correspondent  to  the  Telemachus  of 
Fenelon  than  of  Homer.  Orestes'  revengeful 
slaughter  of  yEgisthus  is  the  model  to  which 
Nestor  directs  Telemachus,  something  different 
from  what  we  mean  by  virtue." 

The  use  of  "  exit  "  called  forth  this  rebuke : — 
240 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ODYSSEY" 

^^  Exit  is  a  sad  tombstone-word.  It  is  thrice 
bad  :  bad  as  being  Latin  ;  as  being  a  word  of 
stage-direction  ;  and  as  being  inscribed  on  half 
the  tombstones  in  the  Kingdom."  Again, 
when  Mr.  Lloyd  wrote : — 

Envy  will  pine  at  such  a  happy  sight 
Benevolence  surveys  it  with  delight, 

— -KoX}^  aXyea  dufffievieffffiv, 
^dpfiara  5'  su/xsvirrjfft  '  jidXiffTa  3i  t  k'xXuov  abroi^ 

Lamb  was  severe : — 

"  '  Envy  will  pine,  &c. 
Benevolence  survey  it  with  delight.' 

I  should  suspect  these  personifications  are  the 
Translator's.     They  sound  ^^j/-Homeric.'* 

Finally  there  is  this  objection  to  the  use  of 
the  word  "  uncle  :" — "  Uncle — rather  a  hazard- 
ous word  ;  would  you  call  Pallas  his  niece '?  I 
cannot  conceive  of  such  relationships  as  Uncles 
and  Nieces  and  Cousins  (at  least  the  names  of 
them)  among  the  Gods." 

Among  other  critics  of  the  "  Odyssey," 
Catherine  Hutton,  the  daughter  of  William 
Hutton,  the  antiquary  and  historian  of  Bir- 
i6  241 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND  THE   LLOYDS 

mingham,  and  the  neighbour  of  Mr.  Lloyd, 
wrote  with  enthusiasm  : — 

''Bennett's  Hill,  June  25  [1810]. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  read  your  seven  Books 
of  the  '  Odyssey'  with  great  pleasure,  and  re- 
turn you  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  present.  I 
can  only  repeat  my  astonishment  that  a  man 
of  your  business,  public  and  private,  a  man 
with  your  numerous  family  and  family  con- 
cerns, could  possibly  have  found  time  to  attain 
such  a  knowledge  of  Greek  as  was  necessary 
to  give  us  a  faithful  picture  of  Homer.  As 
things  are,  it  would  be  selfish  to  say  I  am  sorry 
to  leave  Ulysses  at  the  court  of  Alcinous  ;  but 
if  you  would  allow  us  to  contribute  to  his 
travelling  expenses,  I  should  be  very  happy  if 
you  would  set  him  down  at  Ithaca.  You  give 
us  every  minuti^  and  no  circumlocution." 
(The  end  of  the  letter  has  been  cut  away.') 

'  Here  in  spite  of  its  irrelevance,  might  be  quoted  a  passage  from 
another  of  Catherine  Hutton's  infrequent  letters  to  Mr.  Lloyd.  With 
reference  to  Clarkson's  "History  of  the  Quakers,"  a  work  in  which 
Mr.  Lloyd  naturally  took  great  interest,  she  wrote  wittily,  in  1808  :  "  I 
have  read  Clarkson  through  with  great  pleasure.  Almost  he  per- 
suades me — not  to  be  a  Quaker,  but  to  wish  I  had  been  born  and  bred 
one."  For  much  interesting  matter  concerning  Catherine  Hutton, 
242 


MR.  LLOYD'S   "ODYSSEY" 
Southey  expressed  himself  as  follows  : — 

"Keswick,  December  14,  1810. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  ought  long  ago  to  have 
thanked  you  for  your  little  volume.  Without 
comparing  the  versification  to  Pope's  in  point 
of  high  finishing,  I  can  truly  say  that  I  think 
it  a  versification  of  a  better  kind — flowing 
more  naturally,  less  monotonous  and  therefore 
less  wearying.  Charles  [Lloyd]  I  perceive  has 
marked  several  passages  in  my  copy  as  imper- 
fect rhymes, — I  cannot  consider  them  as  blem- 
ishes; it  is  from  the  French  that  our  critics 
have  learnt  to  condemn  them,  and  a  com- 
parison of  their  theory  of  verse  with  that  of 
other  countries  would  prove  that  the  objection 
proceeds  rather  from  obtuseness  of  ear  than 
from  delicacy.  The  only  thing  I  should  ob- 
ject to  in  your  lines  is  when  you  occasionally 
pronounce  what  use  has  made  a  mute  syllable, 
for  instance : — 

Not  unobserv^</  by  the  noble  maid. 

There  is  a  license  which  of  late  years  I  have 
never  allowed  myself 

the  reader  is  referred  to  two  books  by  Mrs.  C.  H.  Beale  : — "  Remi- 
niscences of  a  Gentlewoman  of  the  Last  Century,"  and  "Catherine 
Hutton  and  Her  Friends." 

243 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"  I  hope  you  will  find  leisure  to  complete 
what  you  have  begun.  The  Odyssey  is  a 
delightful  poem,  and  the  most  delightful  parts 
of  it  are  yet  to  come.  And  tho'  there  is  a 
richness  and  fulness  in  the  Greek  hexameter 
which  no  English  metre  can  imitate  (and  least 
of  all  the  couplet,  which  I  hold  to  be  the  very 
worst  possible  metre  for  narration)  yet  your 
version  represents  Homer  more  faithfully  than 
either  Pope  or  Cowper :  the  stiffness  of  the 
latter  is  as  unlike  the  original,  as  the  finery  of 
the  former.  .  .  . 

"  Believe  me,  Sir, 

"  Yrs.  with  true  respect, 
"  Robert  Southey." 

Mr.  Lloyd  completed  the  translation  of  the 
"Odyssey"  in  1816;  but  only  the  first  seven 
books  were  printed.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
manuscript  volume  which  contains  the  transla- 
tion the  date  on  which  each  of  the  twenty-four 
books  was  finished  has  been  recorded  by  the 
author.  The  composition  of  the  14,591  lines 
of  which  they  consist  extended  over  a  period 
of  eight  years. 


244 


XIV 

MR.  Lloyd's  "Horace" 
1812-1813 

Although  intent  upon  Homer,  Mr.  Lloyd 
had  dallied  also  with  Horace,  and  in  1812  he 
issued,  for  private  circulation,  a  slender  volume 
in  boards :  "  The  Epistles  of  Horace :  Trans- 
lated into  English  Verse."  Six  of  these  ren- 
derings had  appeared  from  time  to  time  in  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine^  and  Lamb,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, had  complimented  Mr.  Lloyd  upon 
one  of  them  (see  p.  234),  and  had  urged  him  to 
continue  his  Horatian  studies. 

Hence  Mr.  Lloyd's  volume,  when  ready,  was 
instantly  despatched  to  London  for  Lamb's 
opinion.     Lamb  replied  forthwith  : — 

"India  House,  Tuesday,  8  Sep.,  181 2. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  return  you  thanks  for  your 

little  Book.     I  am  no  great  Latinist,  but  you 

appear  to  me  to  have  very  happily  caught  the 
24s 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Horatian  manner.  Some  of  them  I  had  seen 
before.  What  gave  me  most  satisfaction  has 
been  the  14th  Epistle  (its  easy  and  Gentleman- 
Hke  beginning,  particularly),  and  perhaps  next 
to  that,  the  Epistle  to  Augustus,  which  reads 
well  even  after  Pope's  delightful  Imitation  of 
it.  What  I  think  the  least  finish'd  is  the  18th 
Epistle.  It  is  a  metre  which  never  gave  me 
much  pleasure.^  I  like  your  eight  syllable 
verses  very  much.  They  suit  the  Epistolary 
style  quite  as  well  as  the  ten.  I  am  only  sorry 
not  to  find  the  Satires  in  the  same  volume.  I 
hope  we  may  expect  them.  I  proceed  to  find 
some  few  oversights,  if  you  will  indulge  me, 
or  what  seem  so  to  me,  for  I  have  neglected 
my  Latin  (and  quite  lost  my  Greek)  since  I 
left  construing  it  at  School.  I  will  take  them 
as  I  find  them  mark'd  in  order." 

But  here,  before  turning  to  the  textual  com- 
ments, may  be  quoted  the  Epistle  which  best 
pleased  the  critic — the  Fourteenth : — 

'  This  is  the  metre  : — 

If  rightly  I  know  thee,  thou  wilt  not  offend, 

My  Lollius,  by  flattery,  the  ears  of  a  friend, 

246 


MR.  LLOYD'S  "HORACE" 

TO    MY   STEWARD 
Steward  of  my  woods  and  self-restoring  farm, 
(Despised  by  thee)  which  formerly  was  warm 
With  five  bright  fires — a  place  of  some  renown. 
Which  sent  five  Senators  to  Varia's  town  ; 
Let  us  contend,  who  is  the  most  inclined, 
I  to  pluck  up  the  thorns  which  choak  the  mind. 
Or  thou  the  thorns  which  my  estate  molest ; 
And  whether  Horace  or  his  farm  thrive  best. 
Lamia  has  lost  his  brother,  and  my  grief 
For  him  who  mourns,  despairing  of  relief. 
Detains  me  here,  tho'  there  my  heart  and  soul 
Bear  me  impatient  of  undue  controul. 
I  call  the  country,  thou  the  town-man  blest ; 
He  hates  his  own,  who  others'  lots  likes  best : 
The  place  is  blamed  unjustly,  for  we  find 
That  change  of  place  can  never  change  the  mind ; 
At  Rome  by  others  hurried  here  and  there. 
Thou  for  the  country  didst  prefer  thy  prayer; 
My  steward  now,  thy  fickle  heart  resorts 
Again  to  Rome,  its  bagnios,  and  its  sports ; 
While  I,  consistent  with  myself,  pursue 
One  steady  plan,  and  this  thou  know'st  is  true ; 
And  when  by  hateful  business  forced  to  move 
To  Rome,  I  leave  with  grief  the  farm  I  love : 
Our  inclinations  differ — hence  we  see 
That  I  and  thou  must  ever  disagree  ; 
For  what  thou  call'st  a  wild  deserted  waste. 
Exactly  suits  my  own  and  others'  taste. 
Who  hate  what  thou  applaudest ; — filthy  stews 
And  greasy  taverns,  suit  thy  low  life  views 
247 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

Of  city  happiness. — A  rural  scene. 

Where  spices  grow,  not  grapes,  thou  thinkest 

mean  ; 
No  tavern  near  which  can  its  wine  supply  ; 
No  dancing  songsters  to  allure  the  eye 
And  charm  the  ear ;  yet,  if  thy  tale  be  true. 
Thou  dost  not  fail  thy  business  to  pursue  ; 
To  plough  my  fallows  overrun  with  weeds. 
And  strip  the  leaves  on  which  my  bullock  feeds  ; 
To  watch  the  river  when  the  showers  descend. 
And  currents  rippling  thro'  the  fields  to  tend. 
Come  now;  I'll  tell  thee  why  we  disagree  ; 
Fine  clothes  and  hair  perfumed  delighted  me. 
Rapacious  Cynara  I  once  could  please 
Without  a  fee,  with  pleasantry  and  ease  ; 
In  rich  Falernian  wine  I  took  delight. 
And  often  sat  till  very  late  at  night ; 
Now  I  eat  little  and  but  little  drink, 
I  sleep  delighted  near  the  river's  brink. 
On  the  soft  grass. — I  can't  recall  the  past. 
But  I  should  blush,  did  youthful  follies  last. 
Safe  in  the  country,  there  no  envious  spy 
Views  my  possessions  with  a  jaundiced  eye  ; 
No  biting  slander  and  no  secret  hate 
Approach  the  confines  of  my  small  estate ; 
The  clods  and  stones  I  carry  from  my  ground. 
My  neighbours  see  me,  and  the  smile  goes  round. 
To  sit  with  slaves  is  thy  delight  and  pride. 
At  a  large  city  table  well  supplied  ; 
With  them  thou  wishest  thy  abode  to  fix. 
And  in  their  meals  and  merriment  to  mix; 
248 


MR.  LLOYD'S  "HORACE" 

While  my  more  active  footboy  longs  to  change 

Places  with  thee,  and  o'er  my  fields  to  range ; 

The  flocks,  the  garden,  and  the  wood  heap'd  fire. 

Despised  by  thee,  excite  his  fond  desire ; 

The  lazy  ox,  the  horse's  trappings  saw 

With  longing  eye — the  horse  the  plough  would  draw  ; 

But  as  in  difil:rent  stations  they  excel. 

Each  cheerfully  should  act  his  own  part  well. 

The  first  of  Lamb's  criticisms  refers  to  a 
passage  in  the  Sixth  Epistle  (Book  I.)  "  To 
Numicus :" — 

Virtutem  verba  putas  et 
Lucum  ligna? 

which  Mr.  Lloyd  had  rendered  thus : — 

Think'st  thou  that  virtue  is  composed  of  words. 
As  some  men  think  a  grove  composed  of  boards  ? 

Lamb  objected  : — "  I  do  not  quite  like  render- 
ing ligna,  boards.  I  take  the  passage  to  allude 
to  the  religious  character  of  their  groves,  and 
that  Horace  means  to  say,  If  you  are  one  who 
think  virtue  to  be  mere  words,  and  account 
no  more  of  a  grove  (that  is,  of  a  consecrated 
place)  than  of  so  much  timber. — As  I  should 

say,  if  you  look  upon  a  Church  as  only  so 
249 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

much  brick  and  mortar,  i.e.  divested  of  its 
sacred  character.  I  don't  know  if  I  am  right 
— but  boards  sound  awkward  to  me :  timber  I 
think  should  be  the  word.  Timber  is  a  word 
we  apply  to  wood  dead  or  alive.  Boards  only 
to  the  dead  wood." 

The  next  reference  is  to  the  Seventh  Epistle 
(Book  I.)  "  To  Maecenas."  Mr.  Lloyd  had 
converted  Horace's 

Dum  pueris  omnis  pater  et  matercula  pallet, 
Officiosaque  sedulitas  et  opella  forensis 
Adducit  febres  et  testamenta  resignat 

to 

Now  fathers  and  mothers  are  pale  for  their  boys. 
And  the  forum's  engagements,  its  bustle  and  noise. 
And  officious  attention,  together  combine 
To  bring  fevers,  which  cause  us  our  wills  to  resign. 

Lamb  wrote : — "  Our  wills  to  resign  is  literally 

the    rendering    of     testamenta    resignare — and 

would  it  not  also  as  aptly  apply  to  voluntates 

deponere?     The  resignation  of  the  will  in  an 

hour  of  sickness   gives  one  a  Christian  idea. 

At  all  events,  resign  should  have  been  written 

re-sign,    which    would     have    precluded    the 

Ambiguity." 

250 


MR.  LLOYD'S  "HORACE" 

Again,  Mr.  Lloyd  thus  opened  the  Epistle 
to  Aristius  Fuscus  (Book  I.,  lo) : — 

We  who  a  country  life  enjoy. 
Whom  rural  pleasures  never  cloy. 
Wish  health  and  peace  may  always  crown 
Our  Fuscus,  who  prefers  the  town ; 
For  tho'  in  this  we  disagree. 
We  feel  like  twins  a  sympathy 
In  other  things ; — what  one  refuses. 
The  other  does,  and  so  he  chooses ; 
Of  the  old  Dove  thou  keep'st  the  nest 
While  I  (and  think  myself  more  blest) 
Extol  the  scenes  which  nature  yields. 
Rivers  which  flow  thro'  verdant  fields, 

and  so  on.     Lamb  commented : — " '  Of  the  old 

dove  thou  keep'st  the  nest.'     Turning  to  the 

original,  I  find  it  '  vetuli  notique  columbi.      Tu 

nidum  servas,  ego,'  &c.,  which  I  have  always 

translated  a  pair  of  old  and  well  acquainted 

Doves,  one  of  us  (you)  keep  to  your  nest,  the 

other  (I)   praise  the  Country.     I  have  always 

taken  columbi  to  be  plural  and  to  refer  to  Tu 

et  ego.     Referring  to  Creech,  I  find  he  translates 

it  as  I  would." 

In  translating  "  Libertino  natum  patre"  in  the 

Epistle  "To  His  Book"  (Book  I.,  20),  Mr. 
251 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Lloyd  had  written  "  From  a  father  libertine  de- 
scended." Lamb  demurred  to  this : — "  I  don't 
know  whether  libertine  in  our  unhappy  perver- 
sion of  the  meaning  would  be  any  great  compli- 
ment to  the  memory  of  a  parent.  In  English 
it  always  means  a  person  of  loose  morals, 
though  by  transposing  the  order  of  the  words 
you  have  perhaps  obviated  the  objection.  A 
libertine  father  would  have  shock'd  the  ear. 
The  transposition  leads  us  to  the  Latin  mean- 
ing, by  making  us  pause  a  little.  I  believe 
this  is  a  foolish  objection."  Horace's  own 
meaning  for  the  word  was,  of  course,  a 
"  freed  man." 

Lamb  continued : — "  You  have  two  or  three 
times  translated  '  solennis'  by  '  solemn.'  Has 
not  the  English  word  acquired  a  gravity  and 
religion,  which  the  Latin  did  not  intend?" 
Lamb  then  cited  two  instances.  One  was  in 
the  Epistle  "To  Maecenas"  (Book  L,  i),  where 
the  translator  rendered  "  Insanire  putas  solemnia 
me,"  "  Thou  think'st  me  then  quite  solemnly 
unsound."  Lamb  commented  thus* — '"Sol- 
emnly unsound' — does '  solemnia  insanire'  mean 
anything  more  than  to  be  mad  with  leave  of 

custom — to  be  orderly  or  warrantably  mad*?" 
252 


MR.  LLOYD'S  "HORACE" 

The  other  instance  was  in  the  Epistle  "  To 
Augustus"  (Book  II.,  i),  where 

Romas  dulce  diu  fuit  et  soUemne  reclusa 
Mane  domo  vigilare 

became 

'Twas  long  a  custom  sanctioned  at  Rome, 
To  spend  the  morning  solemnly  at  home. 

Lamb  remarked : — " '  To  spend  the  morning 
solemnly  at  home.'  Does  '  solenne  fuit'  mean 
anything  more  than  that  it  was  customary  or 
habitual  with  them  to  stay  at  home?  Our 
solemn  is  applied  only  directly  to  forms  of  relig- 
ious or  grave  occasions,  as  a  solemn  hymn  or 
funeral;  and  indirectly  or  ironically  to  grave 
stupid  people — as  a  solemn  coxcomb — which 
latter  I  am  afraid  you  will  think  me  for  being 
so  verbose  on  a  trifling  objection." 

One  other  correction.  Mr.  Lloyd,  in  the 
same  Epistle,  had  rendered  "  socco"  "  buskins." 
Lamb  pointed  out : — "  It  should  have  been 
rendered  by  the  word  sock^  which  refers  to 
Comedy.  The  Cothurnus  or  Buskin  was  the 
high-rais'd  shoe  of  the  tragic  actor." 

The  letter  concluded  : — "  Let  me  only  add 
253 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE    LLOYDS 

that  I  hope  you  will  continue  an  employment 
which  must  have  been  so  delightful  to  you. 
That  it  may  have  the  power  of  stealing  you 
occasionally  from  some  sad  thoughts  is  my 
fervent  wish  and  hope.  Pray,  Dear  Sir,  give 
my  kindest  remembrances  to  Mrs.  Lloyd,  and 
to  Plumstead — I  am  afraid  I  can  add  no  more 
who  are  likely  to  remember  me.  Charles  and  I 
sometimes  correspond.  He  is  a  letter  in  my 
debt."  (The  remainder  of  the  letter  is  torn 
away.) 

Two  other  letters  referring  to  the  "  Horace" 
are  worthy  of  quotation.  This,  from  Catherine 
Hutton,  is  terse  and  sensible  : — • 

Bennett's  Hill,  Nov.  io  [1812]. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  beg  you  will  accept  my  sin- 
cere thanks  for  your  book.  I  own  I  felt  disap- 
pointed that  it  was  not  Homer ;  but  I  am  now 
glad  it  is  Horace.  I  have  read  it  to  my  Father, 
who  is  much  pleased  with  it,  and  says  he  owes 
his  first  acquaintance  with  Horace  to  you. 
He  repeated  the  saying  of  Voltaire  with  regard 
to  Hudibras,  '  There  are  more  thoughts  than 
words.* 

254 


MR.  LLOYD'S  "HORACE" 

"  If  a  man  chooses  to  make  a  paraphrase,  let 
him  ;  only  I  would  not  choose  to  read  it :  for  I 
do  not  think  a  story  or  a  subject  improved  by 
being  wire-drawn.  But  if  he  professes  to  make 
a  translation,  it  seems  to  me  that  he  should 
keep  as  close  to  his  author  as  possible.  He 
who  does  this,  and  in  a  pleasing  manner,  is  the 
best  translator. 

"  Your  Horace  gives  me  an  exact  idea  of 
the  manners  of  the  Romans. 
"  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

"  Your  very  obliged, 

"  Catherine  Hutton." 

The  other  letter  is  from  Southey,  and  thereby 
hangs  a  tale.  In  the  spring  of  1809  Charles 
Lloyd  the  younger,  who  had  been  supplied  with 
manuscript  copies  of  his  father's  translations  to 
show  to  his  friends  the  Lake  poets,  wrote  thus 
from  Old  Brathay : — 

"  I  have  not  shown  these  translations  to  my 
friends,  for  the  omission  of  which  in  each  par- 
ticular case  I  have  a  separate  reason  to  give. 
Both  Coleridge,  Wordsworth,  and  Southey  pro- 
fess to  admire  thy  translation  of  Homer  very 
much,  and  often  voluntarily  introduce  the  sub- 
255 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

ject  in  order  to  express  their  commendations — 
but,  as  a  reason  for  my  omitting  to  obey  thy 
injunction  which  applies  equally  to  all  three,  I 
must  inform  thee  that  I  know  they  have  next 
to  a  contempt  for  Horace :  and  the  best  trans- 
lations that  could  possibly  be  conceived  of  his 
verses  would  not,  I  believe,  give  them  any 
pleasure.  Now  I  will  give  the  reason  for  my 
omission,  which  applies  to  each  of  these  per- 
sonages distinctly.  Wordsworth  is  so  much 
occupied  with  political  subjects  just  now,  and 
with  a  pamphlet  which  he  has  in  the  press  on 
the  Portuguese  Convention,  &c.,  that  I  am  sure 
it  would  be  impossible  to  draw  his  attention  to 
any  other  subject — besides,  even  at  best  he  is 
proverbially  indifferent  to  the  literary  efforts  of 
others.  Coleridge  is  so  miserable  in  mind  and 
body  that  he  pays  no  attention  to  the  most 
urgent  [of  his]  own  affairs.  It  is  true  I  did 
me[ntion  these]  translations  of  thine  to  him, 
and  [asked  him]  to  look  at  them  when  he  had 
[ar-] ranged  the  publication  of  The  Fri[end. 
But]  The  Friend  is  now  as  far  from  being 
arranged  as  it  was  6  months  ago.  In  fact  he 
attends  to  nothing  but  dreamy  reading  and  still 

more  dreamy  feelings.     This  I  would  not  upon 
256 


MR.  LLOYD'S  "HORACE" 

any  account  have  communicated  out  of  the 
family.  Southey  has  such  an  invincible  dislike 
to  Horace  that  I  would  not  show  a  translation 
by  Pope  himself  of  that  author  to  him.  .  .  . 
In  spite  of  what  I  have  now  urged,  if  I  have  a 
convenient  opening,  I  will  put  thy  translations 
into  the  hands  of  my  friends — but  poets,  I 
fancy,  ever  were,  and  ever  will  be  an  intractable 
race. — If  thou  hadst  any  more  of  Homer  to 
send  me  I  would  put  that  into  their  hands  with 
pleasure." 

The  foregoing  remarks  apply  to  the  manu- 
script versions.  When  printed,  a  copy  of 
the  Horace  was,  none  the  less,  despatched  to 
Southey  by  the  undaunted  translator ;  and  this 
was  Southey's  diplomatic  acknowledgment : — 

Keswick,  April  ii,  1813. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  received  yesterday  from 
Old  Brathay,  your  Epistles  of  Horace,  and  am 
much  obliged  to  you  for  the  book.  You  have 
attempted  a  task  of  great  difficulty,  and  you 
have  performed  it  respectably  everywhere,  and 
in  some  parts  with  singular  success. 
17  257 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

"  Charles  writes  to  me  in  healthy  spirits.  I 
am  glad  to  find  that  he  has  amused  himself 
with  '  Alfieri,'  an  occupation  which  I  suggested 
to  him  last  year.  If  he  completes  the  trans- 
lation (as  seems  likely)  it  will  be  an  acquisition 
to  our  literature,  and  may  at  least  be  expected 
to  repay  him  with  credit.  I  hope  we  shall  soon 
see  him  here,  now  that  we  are  enjoying  long 
evenings  and  fine  weather. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  Sir  [the  signature  has 
been  cut  away]." 

And  here,  save  for  one  other  slight  experi- 
ment to  be  mentioned  later,  we  leave  Mr. 
Lloyd  as  translator. 


258 


XV 

CHARLES    LLOYD    AT   OLD    BRATHAY 

1808-1815 

Of  Charles  Lloyd's  life  at  Old  Brathay  the 
records  are  meagre.  He  spent  the  years  in  al- 
ternations of  light  and  shadow,  the  light  never 
very  radiant,  the  shadow  gloomy  beyond  de- 
scription. As  he  grew  older,  his  fits  of  melan- 
choly depression  became  increasingly  serious, 
and,  as  Dr.  Garnett  points  out  in  the  "  Diction- 
ary of  National  Biography,"  bore  a  curious 
likeness  to  those  which  afflicted  Cowper. 

But  during  his  serene,  or  less  troubled  periods, 
Lloyd's  conditions  had  little  resemblance  to 
those  of  the  recluse  of  Olney.  His  house  was 
noisy  with  children,  to  whom  he  seems  to  have 
been  a  loving  and  solicitous  parent ;  his  wife 
was  ever  at  his  side ;  members  of  his  family 
continually  paid  him  visits,  and  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood he  had  many  friends. 

Lloyd's  tastes  were  simple.  Walking,  with 
259 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

long  pauses  for  the  contemplation  of  scenery, 
gardening,  reading,  and  conversation  at  high 
pressure — these  were  his  favourite  beguile ments. 
According  to  De  Quincey,  Lloyd's  house  was 
at  one  time  a  centre  of  gaiety.  Many  dinner 
parties  were  given,  at  which  Lloyd  was  an  ad- 
mirable host,  and  there  were  even  dances,  in 
which,  though  he  took  no  part,  he  found  much 
pleasure.  The  Old  Brathay  cottage  numbered 
among  its  visitors  the  Wordsworths,  the  Cole- 
ridges,  the  Southeys,  "  Christopher  North"  and 
Miss  Penny  (afterwards  his  wife).  Dr.  Watson, 
the  Bishop  of  LlandafF,  Miss  Watson,  his 
daughter,  with  whom  Charles  Lloyd  corre- 
sponded in  French,  and  De  Ouincey. 

It  is  to  the  account  of  Lloyd  which  forms  a 
chapter  in  De  Quincey's  "  Autobiography"  that 
we  are  indebted  for  much  that  is  known  of 
him  at  this  time.  De  Quincey,  it  is  true,  is  not 
always  to  be  relied  upon,  but  we  must  take 
what  we  can.  He  wrote  thus  of  Lloyd's  ap- 
pearance : — "  He  was  tall  and  somewhat  clumsy 
— not  intellectual  so  much  as  benign  and  con- 
ciliatory in  his  expression  of  face.  His  features 
were  not   striking,  but   they  expressed   great 

goodness  of  heart ;  and  latterly  wore  a  depre- 
260 


CHARLES    LLOYD    (177a-Ls;i9) 
By  John  Constable,  R.A. 


From  (I  pii'linr  in  Ihc  poKscssion  of  C.  A.  Uoijd,  Esq. 


CHARLES   LLOYD   AT   OLD   BRATHAY 

catory  expression  that  was  peculiarly  touching 
to  those  who  knew  its  cause." 

Of  Lloyd's  conversational  powers  De  Quincey 
left  this  record : — "  It  was  really  a  delightful 
luxury  to  hear  him  giving  free  scope  to  his 
powers  for  investigating  subtle  combinations 
of  character ;  for  distinguishing  all  the  shades 
and  affinities  of  some  presiding  qualities,  dis- 
entangling, their  intricacies,  and  balancing, 
antithetically,  one  combination  of  qualities 
against  another.  But,"  added  the  historian, 
"  let  but  one  person  enter  the  room  of  whose 
sympathy  he  did  not  feel  secure,  and  his  powers 
forsook  him  as  suddenly  as  the  buoyancy  of  a 
bird  that  has  received  a  mortal  shot  in  its  wing. 
Accordingly,  it  is  a  fact  that  neither  Words- 
worth nor  Coleridge  ever  suspected  the  amount 
of  power  which  was  latent  in  Lloyd ;  for  he 
firmly  believed  that  both  of  them  despised  him. 
Mrs.  Lloyd  thought  the  same  thing." ' 

Whether  or  not  Coleridge  and  Wordsworth 
entertained  that  feeling  for  Lloyd  cannot  be  said. 
We  know  at  any  rate  that  some  years  before 

'  Mrs.  Lloyd,  whom  De  Quincey  admired   and   respected — she  was 
"unsurpassed,"  he  declared,  "as  wife  and  mother" — reminded  him 
in  appearance  of  Mrs.  Jordan,  the  actress. 
261 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

Coleridge  had  believed  Lloyd  to  possess  genius. 
Hypersensitive  natures  are  apt  to  misconstrue, 
and  Lloyd  may  have  magnified  into  contempt 
the  antipathy  which  the  two  poets  would  natu- 
rally feel  for  a  morbid  mind.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
both  men  were  occasionally  in  his  society. 

On  the  other  hand  the  younger  Coleridges 
would  seem  positively  to  have  courted  it.  "  I 
remember,"  wrote  Hartley  Coleridge  among  his 
reminiscences,  "  dear  Charles  Lloyd  reading 
Pope's  '  Translation  of  Statins'  in  the  little 
drawing-room  at  Old  Brathay.  The  room,  the 
furniture,  the  little  1 2^0  Pope,  are  all  before  me. 
He  highly  commended  the  following  lines : — 

Yet  who,  before,  more  popularly  bow'd  ? 
Who  more  propitious  to  the  suppliant  crowd  ? 
Patient  of  right,  familiar  in  the  throne. 
What  wonder  then  ?     He  was  not  then  alone. 

Lloyd  appreciated  Pope  as  rightly  as  any 
man  I  ever  knew,  which  I  ascribe  partly  to  his 
intelligent  enjoyment  of  French  writers,  tem- 
pered as  it  was  with  reverent  admiration  of  the 
greater  English."  And  Derwent  Coleridge,  in 
his  memoir  of  his  brother  Hartley,  says  of  their 
earlier  life  :  "  We  were  lodged  at  Clappersgate, 

a  small  hamlet  beautifully  situated  at  the  dis- 
262 


CHARLES   LLOYD   AT   OLD   BRATHAY 

tance  of  a  mile  from  the  town,  this  place  having 
been  selected  on  account  of  its  neamess  to  Old 
Brathay,  the  residence  of  my  father's  literary 
friend  Charles  Lloyd.  .  .  .  His  sons,  four  noble 
lads,  were  our  schoolfellows,  and  their  admir- 
able mother,  had  we  needed  it,  would  have  been 
a  mother  to  us." 

In  Lloyd's  Old  Brathay  letters  to  his  brother 
Robert,  there  are  interesting  passages  concerning 
Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge.  Here  is  one  from  a 
letter  at  the  end  of  1 808  : — 

"  Coleridge  has  made  us  several  visits  lately. 
We  are  very  much  interested  with  his  society — 
indeed  I  can  set  no  bounds  to  my  astonishment 
at  his  talents.  Coleridge  is  talking  of  publish- 
ing a  weekly  paper  which  he  calls  The  Friend 
— it  is  to  resemble  in  its  plan  the  Spectator, 
Guardian,  &c. — The  prospectus  of  the  work  is 
now  printing  at  Kendal. — It  is  to  treat  of  sub- 
jects moral,  and  in  connection  with  taste  and 
general  literature — and  indeed  it  is  to  extend  to 
all  topics  except  those  of  politics  and  religion. 
— If  the  work  comes  out  he  would  be  much 
obliged  to  you  to  promote  its  sale  by  procuring 
subscriptions  for  him — when  the  prospectus  is 

printed  I  will  send  you  some  copies. 
263 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"  I  have  translated  about  half  of  Ovid's 
'  Metamorphoses,'  and  there  I  remain :  the  ap- 
petite for  this  employment  has  not  seized  me 
lately — and  if  I  have  not  an  appetite  to  begin 
with  I  never  succeed."  (He  did  not  complete 
the  task.) 

In  the  following  January,  1809,  Coleridge 
spent  a  few  days  with  the  Lloyds  at  Old  Brathay. 
Fortunately  Agatha  Lloyd,  Charles's  sister,  was 
a  guest  at  the  same  time,  and  hence  the  follow- 
ing description  in  a  letter  to  Robert's  wife : — 

"  Coleridge  has  been  our  guest  since  sixth 
day ;  he  intends  going  to  Grasmere  to-day. 
He  is  too  interesting  a  man  to  live  comfortably 
with  a  long  time — he  has  very  strong  affec- 
tions, but  in  his  domestic  habits  I  do  not 
wonder  at  his  being  a  very  trying  husband, 
unless  his  wife  could  be  so  entirely  absorbed  in 
his  mind  as  not  to  think  of  the  inconvenience 
of  being  put  out  of  her  way  in  every  day  oc- 
currences, which  after  all  make  up  the  great 
sum  of  our  lives ;  and  I  believe  little  inatten- 
tions of  that  sort  are  and  must  be  felt.  He  is 
truly  a  wonderful  man — his  powers  of  conver- 
sation and  the  richness  and  extent  of  his  mind 

are  indeed  extraordinary,  and  I  only  wish,  by  a 
264 


CHARLES   LLOYD   AT   OLD   BRATHAY 

little  more  attention  to  system  than  to  impulse^ 
he  were  more  calculated  to  shine  as  a  domestic 
character.  He  has  two  interesting  boys  for 
whom  he  has  a  most  fatherly  affection.  Hart- 
ley is  a  child  to  me  ■painfully  out  of  the  com- 
mon way  both  in  mind  and  constitution — 
should  he  live,  poor  fellow,  he  will  be  a  most 
interesting  character,  and  I  wish,  as  related  his 
parents^  he  were  in  more  happy  circumstances. 
I  have  been  going  on  without  appearing  to  con- 
sider thee,  but  thou  must  excuse  me.  Southey 
was  here  for  an  hour  on  sixth  day,  and  Words- 
worth called  ;  so  the  three  northern  poets  were 
all  here  that  day.  This  seems  the  land  of 
genius,  but  I  shall  be  very  well  contented  to 
leave  the  genii  of  the  mountains  for  my  dear 
friends  at  home,  who  after  all  are  my  only  true 
friends. — I  feel  confident  of  this,  and  wish  more 
and  more  to  cherish  a  disposition  to  love  and 
be  loved  by  my  own  fireside,  amongst  those  of 
my  own  family."  ^ 

«  It  was  Agatha  Lloyd  (1791-1838),  the  writer  of  this  letter,  who 
transmitted  the  poetical  instinct  of  the  family.  By  her  marriage  with 
James  Pearson  she  had  several  children.  Among  them  was  Mary 
Caroline,  who  married  Robert  Benson  Dockray.  One  of  their  daugh- 
ters, Mary,  married  the  Rev.  Frederick  Binyon,  and  became  the 
mother  of  Mr.  Laurence  Binyon,  the  author  of  "  A  Book  of  London 
265 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

On  February  7,  1 809,  Charles  wrote  : — "  We 
see  nothing  of  Coleridge  at  present,  in  conse- 
quence of  several  individuals  of  Wordsworth's 
family  not  having  had  the  measles ;  but  I  re- 
ceived a  line  from  him  the  day  before  yester- 
day, written  on  Saturday.  Of '  The  Friend'  he 
writes  as  follows :  '  Wordsworth  and  myself 
went  to  Kendal  on  Tuesday  last  to  propose  to 
Pennington  (the  bookseller  there)  the  printing 
and  publishing  of  '  The  Friend,'  stamped,  &c., 
as  a  newspaper,  but  we  could  settle  nothing.' 
He  went  to  Kendal  on  Sunday  a  second  time, 
on  the  same  business." 

The  following  remarks  on  Coleridge,  called 
forth  by  the  first  number  of  '  The  Friend,'  are 
interesting.  They  occur  in  a  letter  from 
Charles  to  Robert,  dated  June  1 2,  1 809  : — 

"  I  shall  be  much  obliged  to  you  for  the 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher  and  Massinger  on  the 
terms  you  mention — also  for  Lamb's  specimens 
of  ancient  dramatic  writers  and  Mrs.  Leicester's 
School.  We  have  the  tales  from  Shakspeare. 
I  certainly  think   the    first   number  of  '  The 

Visions,"  and   "  Porphyrion,  and    other   Poems;"    another,  Agatha 

Sophia,  married  the  Rev.  Stephen  Phillips,  and  became  the  mother  of 

Mr.  Stephen  Phillips,  the  author  of  "  Christ  in  Hades,"  and  "  Poems." 

266 


CHARLES   LLOYD   AT   OLD   BRATHAY 

Friend'  abstruse  and  laboured  in  the  style — it 
is  evidently  written  with  great  difficulty.  I 
cannot  say  that  I  am  more  pleased  with  the 
second.  Coleridge  has  such  a  lamentable  want 
of  voluntary  power.  If  he  is  excited  by  a 
remark  in  company,  he  will  pour  forth,  in  an 
evening,  without  the  least  apparent  effort,  what 
would  furnish  matter  for  a  hundred  essays — 
but  the  moment  that  he  is  to  write — not  from 
present  impulse  but  from  preordained  delibera- 
tion— his  powers  fail  him ;  and  I  believe  that 
there  are  times  when  he  could  not  pen  the  com- 
monest notes.  He  is  one  of  those  minds  who, 
except  in  inspired  moods,  can  do  nothing — and 
his  inspirations  are  all  oral,  and  not  scriptural. 
And  when  he  is  inspired  he  surpasses,  in  my 
opinion,  all  that  could  be  thought  or  imagined 
of  a  human  being.  .  .  .  But  I  have  more 
fears  than  hopes  about  this  publication." 

Here,  from  another  letter,  is  a  hint  of  Lloyd's 
taste  in  literature  at  that  time : — "  When  my 
Mother  comes  I  should  be  glad  to  have  Rollin, 
Barrow,  and  Marcus  Antoninus  sent,  also  the 
plate  of  my  arms,  and  the  half-boots  which  are 
to  wear  with  the  pantaloons  and  the  ordering 

of  which  I  leave  entirely  to  you ;   order  for 
267 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

me  what  you  would  order  for  yourself,  only  let 
the  boots  be  made  rather  stronger  than  your 
town  beaux  would  choose  to  wear.  I  shall 
also  thank  you  to  send  the  inhaler.  Please  to 
put  these  things  under  the  care  of  Caroline  in 
preference  to  that  of  my  Mother,  who,  though 
quite  disposed  to  perform  an  act  of  kindness,  is 
most  philosophically  indifferent  to  the  common 
affairs  of  life."  Lloyd  added,  as  if  in  proof 
that  such  indifference  was  not  also  his : — "  If 
Hessian  boots  would  do  to  wear  with  panta- 
loons, or  small  clothes  indiscriminately,  I  should 
prefer  them — but  not  without." 

The  rest  of  the  letter,  and  one  or  two  that 
followed  it,  dealt  with  "  Isabel,"  a  novel  written 
by  Charles  Lloyd  some  years  previously,  and 
now  being  revised  and  transcribed  for  the  bene- 
fit of  Miss  Watson.  "  There  is,"  he  wrote, 
*'an  accurate  delineation  of  passion  in  it,  but 
the  story  is  incurably  defective."  "  Isabel"  was 
a  piece  of  Rousseauism,  the  product  of  an  un- 
healthy mind.  After  toying  with  its  revision 
for  some  months  the  author  had  a  few  copies 
printed  for  private  distribution  ;  but  almost  im- 
mediately afterwards,  in  accordance,  presumably, 

with  the  strongly-expressed  views  of  his  father, 
268 


CHARLES   LLOYD   AT   OLD   BRATHAY 

he  ordered  its  suppression.  In  the  letter  con- 
taining the  instructions  for  this  suppression  is  a 
passage  of  arms  between  the  two  brothers. 
Robert  seems  to  have  disapproved  with  some 
vigour  of  the  "  accurate  deUneation  of  passion"  ; 
Charles  replied : — 

"  I  cannot  agree  with  you  that  '  Isabel'  is  a 
dangerous  book.  The  proper  answer  to  the 
following  query  of  yours, '  Why  should  minds 
who  feel  the  tyranny  of  love  be,  by  any  coinci- 
dence, confirmed  that  it  can  only  be  released 
from  its  thraldom  by  death  T  arises  from  what 
I  have  said  in  the  preface  on  the  nature  of  the 
passions — viz.,  taking  for  granted,  that  even  in 
their  most  perilous  degree  Ihey  must  exist  in  some 
characters,  it  is  better  to  provide  intellectual  as- 
sociations for  them  even  in  this  perilous  degree. 
An  Isabel  would  no  more  die  of  love  than  she 
otherwise  would,,  because  she  had  somewhere 
read  in  a  novel  of  a  heroine  that  died  of  Love. 
We  are  governed  by  the  law  of  our  own  nature, 
and  not  by  the  law  which  we  read  of  in  others 
— and  the  law  of  another  mind  no  further 
affects  mine  than  as  far  as  it  coincides  with 
mine — therefore  if    the  law   of  my  mind   be 

death  from  Love,  I  shall  die  whether  I  read 
269 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

books  that  inculcate  the  omnipotence  of  love 
or  not ;  if  the  law  of  my  mind  be  not  death 
from  Love,  I  shall  not  die  tho'  I  read  of  Paphian 
victims  from  morning  till  night.  Farewell ! 
my  dear  Robert,  I  hope  that  when  this  arrives 
you  will  not  be  immersed  in  the  '  quagmire  of 
morbidity.'  I  was  very  much  amused  by  the 
phrase,  and  think  that  there  is  a  considerable 
Hudibrastic  felicity  in  it." 

The  year  of  the  letter  just  quoted  was  1811, 
when  another  season  of  affliction  was  imminent. 
The  following  passage,  written  to  Robert  a 
month  or  so  after,  contains  a  piece  of  searching 
self-revelation : — 

"  I  often  wish  that  I  had  some  one  entirely 
sympathizing  friend,  but  this  is  a  chimerical 
wish ;  a  person  to  feel  entire  sympathy  with 
one  must  have  suffered  as  much,  and,  in  the 
way  that  I  have  done,  and  then  he  would  be 
as  full  of  his  sufferings  as  I  am  of  mine,  and 
therefore  rather  calculated  to  wish  to  act  upon 
another  than  to  be  acted  upon  himself:  added 
to  this  that  I  doubt  whether,  all  things  con- 
sidered, morbid  persons  are  edifying  com- 
panions for  each  other.     I  fully  believe  that 

the  secret  why  persons  of  extreme  sensibility 
270 


CHARLES   LLOYD   AT   OLD   BRATHAY 

seldom  or  never  agree  long  together  is,  that 
there  are  few  of  that  temperament,  perhaps 
none,  such  is  the  constitution  of  the  world, 
that  do  not  suffer  very  much — and,  as  I  said 
before,  they  rather  want  to  impress  than  to  be 
impressed.  Now  they  cannot  excite  an  entire 
sympathy  except  where  they  meet  with  a  sen- 
sibility equals  and  an  experience  similar^  to  their 
own  ;  but  here  in  all  probability,  tho'  the  charm 
will  be  great  at  first,  the  want  on  both  sides  will 
be  alike,  i.e.^  an  impatience  to  act  upon  rather 
than  be  acted  upon,  and  these  fine  minds  will 
quarrel  very  vulgarly.  Such  is  in  my  opinion 
the  sketch  of  the  history  of  almost  all  senti- 
mental friendships,  especially  when  they  are 
founded  on  the  wish,  selfish  at  bottom,  rather 
to  pour  out  your  own  feelings  than  to  be  im- 
pressed by  the  feelings  of  others.  Indeed,  in 
almost  all  people  of  sensibility,  I  believe  that 
there  is  an  impatience  and  an  irritation  when 
they  are  long  acted  upon.  What  must  be  then 
their  fate  *?  Why,  they  must  live  in  constant 
irritation,  or  they  must  sit  down  content  with 
the  joyless  gloom  of  unparticipated  feeling — 
except  indeed  they  have  religion,  which  seems 

to  me  the  grand  panacea  for  minds  of  this  cast." 
271 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Only  a  man  gifted  in  no  common  degree  with 
introspection  could  have  written  that.  Such  a 
passage  justifies  Talfourd's  opinion  of  Charles 
Lloyd  :  "  His  mind  was  chiefly  remarkable  for 
a  fine  power  of  analysis.  In  this  power  of  dis- 
criminating and  distinguishing,  carried  almost 
to  a  pitch  of  painfulness,  Lloyd  has  scarcely 
been  equalled.  At  a  time  when,"  Talfourd 
added,  "  like  Cowper,  he  believed  himself  the 
especial  subject  of  Divine  wrath,  he  could  bear 
his  part  in  the  most  subtle  disquisitidhs  on 
questions  of  religion,  morals,  and  poetry,  with 
the  nicest  accuracy  of  perception  and  the  most 
exemplary  candour." 

Among  other  admirers  of  Charles  Lloyd's 
swift  and  sure  vision  in  metaphysical  questions 
was  Shelley.  During  a  visit  to  the  Lakes, 
Shelley  borrowed,  through  Southey,  Lloyd's 
copy  of  Berkeley's  works.  "  I  remember,"  he 
wrote  to  Leigh  Hunt  in  1819,  "  observing  some 
pencil  notes  in  it,  probably  written  by  Lloyd, 
which  I  thought  particularly  acute.  One  es- 
pecially struck  me  as  being  the  assertion  of  a 
doctrine  of  which  even  then  I  had  long  been 
persuaded,  and  on  which  I  had  founded  much 

of  my  persuasions  as  regarded   the   imagined 
272 


CHARLES   LLOYD   AT   OLD   BRATHAY 

cause  of  the  universe — '  Mind  cannot  create, 
it  can  only  perceive.'  "  Shelley  refers  particu- 
larly to  the  "  Three  Dialogues  between  Hylas 
and  Philonous  in  opposition  to  Sceptics  and 
Atheists."  ' 

In  October,  1811,  came  Robert's  sudden 
death,  a  blow  which  fell  on  Charles  Lloyd  with 
grievous  force.  In  losing  this  brother,  he  lost 
the  one  relative  to  whom  he  could  unburden 
his  mind  without  hesitation.  Henceforward, 
for  several  years,  he  was  in  the  clutch  of  despair, 
with  only  occasional  periods  of  alleviation,  part 
of  which  he  employed  in  the  somewhat  gloomy 
task,  of  translating  the  tragedies  of  Alfieri.''    His 


*  The  book  in  question  (the  two-volume  edition  of  1784)  is  now  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  C.  A.  Lloyd. 

'  A  translation  of  Alfieri  was  naturally  not  much  to  the  taste  of 
Charles  Lloyd's  family.  No  record  of  Mr.  Lloyd's  opinion  has  come 
down,  but  Priscilla  Wordsworth,  writing  to  Robert's  wife  a  few  days 
before  Waterloo,  thus  expressed  her  feelings  : — 

*•  What  an  eventful  period  this  is !  I  never  felt  so  depressed  by  the 
outward  state  of  things  as  at  this  moment.  The  external  face  of  the 
world  seems  to  me  full  of  discouragement.  Have  you  read  W.'s 
"  Excursion"  ?  I  hope  you  have.  It  is  a  noble  work — and  cannot,  I 
think,  be  read  without  profit.  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  either  like  or 
approve  Alfieri.  The  stories  are  so  atrocious,  as  rather  to  disgust  than 
to  excite  sympathy — and  the  style  is  so  inharmonious  as  by  no  means 
to  add  to  its  attractions.  I  much  regret  that  Charles  should  have 
made  choice  of  so  unprepossessing  an  Author.  Sir  G.  Beaumont — 
18  273 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

version,  in  three  volumes,  was  published  in  1815, 
just  before  his  condition  reached  its  first  climax 
of  gravity. 

The  year  1815  brought  more  grief  to  the 
Lloyd  family ;  for  Charles's  affliction  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  death  of  Priscilla  Wordsworth, 
in  October,  at  the  age  of  only  thirty-three.  She 
left  three  children.  Well  might  Lamb  write 
to  Miss  Hutchinson,  William  Wordsworth's 
sister-in-law  :  "  Poor  C.  Lloyd  and  poor  Pris- 
cilla I" 

who  paid  us  a  visit  a  few  days  ago — was  at  Rome  when  Alfieri  acted 
his  own  Tragedies.  He  spoke  of  them  as  pedantic,  and  uninteresting. 
He  observed  that  he  saw  him  act,  on  the  very  days  on  which,  accord- 
ing to  Alfieri's  dates,  some  of  his  plays  were  written." 


274 


XVI 

CHARLES    LLOYD    IN    LONDON 
1818-1823 

In  1818,  however,  came  an  unmistakable  re- 
newal of  intellectual  clearness  and  activity,  and 
with  it  Charles  Lloyd's  removal  to  London  and 
his  re-entry  into  that  literary  life  for  which  he 
had  once  so  longed.  Mrs.  Lloyd  and  his  chil- 
dren did  not  follow  him  thither  until  later. 

Our  first  glimpse  of  him  is  in  Macready's 
"  Reminiscences."  In  the  spring  of  1818,  when 
Macready  was  playing  "Rob  Roy  McGregor; 
or,  Auld  Lang  Syne"  at  Covent  Garden,  he  re- 
ceived one  morning  an  unsigned  letter  and  a 
sonnet,  the  writer  of  which  set  forth  that  the 
actor's  performance  as  the  Highlander  on  the 
previous  night  had  caused  the  first  gush  of  tears 
— and  consequent  relief  of  mental  tension — 
that  had  come  to  him  for  years.  Macready 
had  at  the  time  no  clue  to  the  identity  of  the 
sufferer  whom  he  had  thus  been  the  means  of 
assisting,  but  a  year  or  so  after  came  to  him  a 
275 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

presentation  volume  of  poetry,  in  which  the 
sonnets  figured,  and  he  then  learned  that  Charles 
Lloyd  was  the  author. 


A  friendship  [wrote  Macready]  which  lasted  through 
his  life,  speedily  grew  out  of  the  acquaintance  which  this 
compliment  induced.  I  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  his  lodg- 
ings, spending  many  evenings  in  delightful  intercourse 
with  him  and  his  most  amiable  and  accomplished  wife. 
Under  his  roof  I  first  became  acquainted  with  Lamb,  and 
that  sister  to  whom  his  brotherly  devotion  made  his  life 
one  course  of  self-denying  heroism.  She  was  most  intel- 
ligent and  gentle  in  manners.  Here,  too,  took  place  my 
introduction  to  Talfourd,  who  has  so  eloquently  told  the 
story  of  their  woes.  It  was  from  Lloyd  himself  that  I 
received  the  melancholy  account  of  his  suiFerings.  For 
upwards  of  four  years  he  had  been  afflicted  with  a  most 
extraordinary  malady,  a  torpor  of  feeling,  and,  as  it  were, 
a  numbness  of  his  faculties,  that  all  the  medical  advice  to 
which  he  had  resorted  had  been  unable  to  relax  or  to  dis- 
pel. He  was  impenetrable  to  the  efforts  of  skill  or  the 
blandishments  of  affection.  All  intellectual  pursuits  had 
been  discontinued,  and,  as  his  sonnet  intimates,  life  itself 
had  become  wearisome.  By  some  inexplicable  chance  he 
strayed  one  night,  he  scarce  knew  why,  into  the  pit  of 
Covent  Garden  Theatre,  where  the  drama  of  *'  Rob  Roy" 
was  being  acted.  He  became  absorbed  in  the  interest  of 
Scott's  romantic  story,  and,  in  the  scene  where  the  out- 
lawed chief  dashes  away  the  tears  from  his  eyes,  poor 
Lloyd  felt  his  own  fast  trickling  down  his  cheeks.  The 
276 


CHARLES   LLOYD   IN   LONDON 

rock  was  struck,  and  the  gushing  stream  was  a  new  spring 
of  life  to  him.  So  he  felt  it,  and  testified  to  me,  as  the 
instrument  of  his  restoration,  the  most  affectionate  regard. 

Thus  relieved  and  re-invigorated,  Charles 
Lloyd  had  plunged  into  literary  labours.  From 
London  he  addressed  to  Hannah  Lloyd,  Rob- 
ert's widow,  in  whom  he  found  a  vein  of  sym- 
pathy kindred  to  that  which  marked  Robert  as 
his  most  congenial  correspondent,  several  letters 
which  enable  us  to  follow  his  actions  and 
thoughts  with  some  closeness.  Here  are  in- 
teresting passages  from  a  long  communication, 
dated  July  28,  1819,  in  which,  presumably 
with  the  intention  of  preparing  a  new  volume 
for  the  press,  he  asked  for  copies  of  certain 
sonnets  that,  from  time  to  time,  he  had  sent  to 
Hannah : — 

"  The  constant  succession  of  artificial  im- 
pressions, particularly  that  portion  of  them 
which  is  addressed  to  the  sense  of  hearing, 
peculiar  to  a  residence  in  London,  produces  all 
the  effect  which  I  anticipated.  Elsewhere  I  felt 
literally  alone  in  the  world.  Here  I  feel  alone 
as  respects  individual  sympathy,  but  on  all  sides 
a  wall,  a  fortification  of  life,  and  human  life, 

seems  to  surround  and  protect  me.     Before  I 
277 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

came  here,  it  was  a  phenomenon  if  I  were  em- 
ployed ;  and  a  still  greater  one  if  I  were  interested 
in  that  employment.  Here  I  am  always  doing 
something,  and  the  perpetual  noise  that  I  hear 
from  every  quarter  ;  the  perpetual,  involuntary, 
and  unsought-for  remindings  of  life  with  which, 
on  every  side,  the  surrounding  atmosphere  is 
impregnated,  keep  up  an  external  counterpoise 
to  the  restless  agony  ever  busy  within :  and 
tho'  I  must  know  that,  in  a  religious  sense,  I 
am  no  more  protected  here  than  I  should  be 
among  the  Lybian  deserts,  since  God  is  ever 
present, 

ever  felt. 
In  the  void  waste,  as  in  the  city  full. 
And  where  He  vital  reigns,  there  must  be  joy.^ 

yet  the  insensible  influence  of  this  "  hum"  and 
bustle  "  of  man"  is  considerable,  and,  as  far  as 


'  From  the  Hymn  at  the  end  of  Thomson's  "Seasons' 
should  fate  command  me  to  the  farthest  verge 
Of  the  green  earth,  to  distant  barbarous  climes, 
Rivers  unknown  to  song  ;   where  first  the  sun 
Gilds  Indian  mountains,  or  his  setting  beam 
Flames  on  th'  Atlantic  isles;    'tis  nought  to  mej 
Since  God  is  ever  present,  ever  felt. 
In  the  void  waste,  as  in  the  city  full ; 
And  where  He  vital  breathes,  there  must  be  joy. 
278 


CHARLES   LLOYD   IN   LONDON 

it  goes,  operates  in  the  most  soothing,  and 
alleviating  manner.  I  would  not  surrender  the 
mere  effects  of  the  noise  of  London  for  any 
consideration  in  life :  and  what  is  most  extra- 
ordinary is,  though  it  has  had  no  effect  towards 
producing  the  least  change  in  my  ideas,  and 
impressions  with  regard  to  my  ultimate  and 
final  destination,  yet  it  holds  such  an  ascend- 
ency over  my  momently  sensations,  that  it  has 
enabled  me  for  the  last  ten  weeks  to  change 
almost  uninterrupted  sleeplessness  at  nights  for  a 
repose  during  the  nocturnal  hours  as  uninter- 
rupted. .  .  . 

"  I  have  seen  a  number  of  literary  characters, 
with  whom  I  was  not  previously  acquainted, 
since  I  came  here.  Mr.  Hazlitt,  Mr.  Hunt, 
Mr.  Procter '  (who  has  published  a  most  beau- 
tiful and  exquisite  collection  of  poems  called 

*  Barry  Cornwall  wrote,  in  his  memoir  of  Lamb  :— 

"  The  last  time  I  saw  Charles  Lloyd  was  in  company  with  Hazlitt. 
We  heard  that  he  had  taken  lodgings  at  a  working  brazier's  shop,  in 
Fetter  Lane,  and  we  visited  him  there  and  found  him  in  bed,  much 
depressed,  but  very  willing  to  discuss  certain  problems  with  Hazlitt, 
who  carried  on  the  greater  part  of  the  conversation.  We  understood 
that  he  had  selected  these  noisy  apartments  in  order  that  they  might 
distract  his  mind  from  the  fears  and  melancholy  thoughts  which  at 
that  time  distressed  him." 

279 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Dramatic  Sketches  under  the  feigned  name  of 
Barry  Cornwall — get  the  book  if  you  can — it 
is  a  small  volume,  and  not  expensive),  Mr. 
Godwin,  Miss  Joanna  Baillie  (the  authoress  of 
the  plays  on  the  passions),  Mrs.  Barbauld,  and 
Miss  Aikin,  &c.,  &c.  I  might  be  in  society 
every  day  if  I  liked,  and  have  often  been  en- 
gaged to  two  places  the  same  evening,  and  have 
received  three  or  four  invitations  for  the  same 
day ;  yet  for  one  invitation  that  I  accept,  I 
decline  half  a  dozen.  This  keeps  me  in  motion, 
and,  if  I  am  not  employed  in  visiting,  at  least 
my  attention  is  forced  out  of  myself  by  the 
calls,  or  the  notes  which  I  am  obliged  to  write 
and  often  receive,  from  those  who  seem  dis- 
posed to  notice  me.  I  have  written  several 
poems  since  I  have  been  here — an  effort  which 
it  never  came  into  my  thought  to  make  in  any 
situation  in  which  I  have  been  for  the  last  four 
years." 

In  1819  appeared  "  Nugs  Canorse,"  a  vol- 
ume of  poems  containing  certain  new  pieces, 
and  most  of  Lloyd's  early  work  with  Coleridge 
and  Lamb  reprinted.  The  book,  which  was 
dedicated  to  Sophia  Lloyd,  reflected  an  affec- 
tionate and  foreboding  temperament.  It  was 
280 


CHARLES  LLOYD   IN   LONDON 

not  remarkable,  yet  was  well  reviewed,  notably 
by  "Christopher  North,"  in  "Blackwood." 
Thirty  years  later,  however,  in  1849,  ^^  ^  ^^" 
view  of  Serjeant  Talfourd's  "  Final  Memorials 
of  Charles  Lamb,"  a  writer  in  "  Maga"  undid 
Christopher's  praise  with  merciless  directness. 
In  the  British  Museum  is  Coleridge's  copy  of 
"  Nugse  Canorae,"  distinguished  by  a  few  pen- 
ciled marginalia.  These  neither  display  the 
critic  in  too  favourable  a  light,  nor  add,  as  do 
so  many  of  his  comments,  to  the  book's  value.^ 

*  Thus  when  Lloyd  wrote  : — 

"Oh,  Liberty, 
I  ask  for  thee  alone ; — with  thee  to  weave 

Quaint  rhymes,  to  breath  the  air,  were  heaven  to  me ; 
To  dream  myself  the  only  living  thing,  save  Thee  !'* 

Coleridge  added  in  pencil : — 

"  To  think  myself  the  only  Being  alive, 

Remorse.*^ 

And  when  in  the  Advertisement  to  the  Translations  from  Ovid,  Lloyd 
said  that  he  had  adopted  "  smooth  versification,"  Coleridge  marked 
the  word  "smooth,"  and  appended  the  note:  "Verily,  rather  too 
good  a  joke  !"  Coleridge,  however,  was  not  entirely  without  apprec- 
iation for  the  work.      A  stanza  in  one  poem   began  with   the  line  : — 

"  When  first,  I  say — I've  played  the  truant  long." 

Coleridge  remarked  (the  italics  are  added)  : — "These  are  not  lyrical 
transitions,   but    the   mere  orange-sucking  of  bewildered  garrulity — 
really  vexatious  in  a  poem  of  so  much  merit." 
281 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

In  December,  1819,  writing  to  Hannah  Lloyd 
from  rooms  in  Fleet  Street,  Lloyd  foreshadowed 
his  next  book,  "  Desultory  Thoughts  in  Lon- 
don" : — "  My  friend  Manning  has  been  with 
me  since  last  Friday,  and  I  expect  stays  till  the 
next — the  31st.  But  whether  he  be  here  or 
not  there  is  a  spare  bed  for  James  [Lloyd].  I 
am  much  more  comfortable  than  I  was  at  Bir- 
mingham ;  but  that  I  entirely  attribute  to  the 
greater  variety  of  external  impressions  made 
upon  me.  At  times  still  I  suffer  a  great  deal : 
tho'  much  less  than  I  did.  I  have  written  a 
poem  of  between  three  and  four  thousand  lines 
called  '  London ' :  it  embraces  every  topic  of 
reflection  which  such  a  place  may  be  supposed 
to  suggest  to  a  contemplative  man." 

So  far  Lloyd  had  been  alone ;  but  early  in 

1820,  Sophia  and  some  or  all  of  the  children 

joined  him,  and  they  took  a  furnished  house  at 

Kensington.     He  wrote  thus  to  Hannah  : — "  I 

have  another  volume  of  poems  ready  for  the 

press — a  bookseller    has    offered  to  print  it  at 

his  own  risk,  and  to  share  the  profits  with  me. 

I  have  also  a  tale  in  five  volumes,  for  which  I 

have  been  offered  £20  per  vol.     At  all  events, 

I  hope  to  be  able  to  avail  myself  of  such  an 
282 


CHARLES   LLOYD   IN   LONDON 

opportunity  of  near  neighbourhood  of  pub- 
lishers as  I  may  never  have  again,  to  try,  if 
health  be  afforded  me,  to  form  some  respect- 
able connection  in  that  way,  which  may  afford 
a  prospect  of  sale  to,  and  profit  from,  my  future 
literary  labours."  The  novel  alluded  to  was 
never  published,  possibly  never  finished. 

Lamb's  name  occurred  in  Macready's  refer- 
ence to  Lloyd.  In  a  letter  to  Barron  Field, 
dated  August  16,  1820,'  we  find  Lamb  men- 
tioning Lloyd  :  "  We  received  your '  Australian 
First  Fruits,'  of  which  I  shall  say  nothing  here, 
but  refer  you  to^  *  *  *  P  Hunt]  of  the  '  Ex- 
aminer,' who  speaks  our  mind  on  all  public 
subjects.  I  can  only  assure  you  that  both 
Coleridge  and  Wordsworth,  and  also  C.  Lloyd, 
who  has  lately  reappeared  in  the  poetical  hor- 
izon, were  hugely  taken  with  your  Kangaroo." 
"  Australian  First  Fruits"  was  the  poetical  vol- 
ume by  Barron  Field  which  Lamb  reviewed 
in  the  "  Examiner"  with  so  light  a  touch,  "  The 
Kangaroo"  being  the  title  of  the  second  poem. 

In  1820  intense  excitement  was  caused  by 
the    determination    of    Caroline,   George    the 


'  Printed  in  "The  Lambs"  by  Mr.  W.  C.  Hazlitt, 
283 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Fourth's  consort,  to  be  recognised  as  Queen. 
Here  is  a  spirited  account  of  Lloyd's  feelings 
in  the  matter : — 

"  I  hope  that  you,  like  ourselves,  are  hearty 
in  the  Queen's  cause.  In  my  opinion,  as  an 
affair  of  Justice,  it  matters  not  whether  she  be 
innocent  or  guilty.  Who  ever  heard  that  there 
was  a  sex  in  crime  *?  It  is  infamous  for  such 
a  man  as  our  king  to  throw  the  first  stone  in 
such  a  business,  and  as  infamous  in  the  nobles 
of  the  Land,  under  an  hypocritical  pretence  of 
regard  for  the  religion  and  morals  of  the  country, 
to  be  the  tools  of  his  malice  and  hatred. — 
If  she  be  judged  guilty,  it  is  not  because 
she  is  frail,  but  because  the  king  hates  her. 
Were  power  in  her  hands,  these  very  men  that 
now  sit  in  judgment  upon  her,  even  if  she 
were  as  bad  as  Catherine  of  Russia,  would  be 
at  her  feet.  Where  is  all  that '  proud  obedience 
to  rank  and  sex'  of  which  Burke  boasted  so 
much,  gone  ? — I  blush  for  Englishmen." 

In  1821  the  "  Desultory  Thoughts  in  Lon- 
don," Lloyd's  best  work,  from  which  quotations 
have  already  been  made,  was  issued.  This, 
again,  was  dedicated  to  his  wife  Sophia.     One 

more  passage  may  be  added  to  those  given  earlier 

284 


CHARLES  LLOYD   IN   LONDON 

in  this  volume  ;  four  stanzas  which  show  us  the 
point  which  Lloyd's  own  development  had 
reached.  The  influence  of  Wordsworth  is  very 
perceptible. 

Give  me  the  man  who,  for  thy  sake  alone — 

Not  for  his  hortus  siccus  ;  cabinet 
Of  fossil,  spar,  shell,  coral,  mineral,  stone ; 

Or  for  his  pencil's  sake,  doth  contemplate 
Thee,  Nature  !     Give  the  man  who  oft  has  known 

Himself,  when  he  saw  thee,  self  to  forget  j 
And  in  a  depth  of  ravishment  transfused. 
On  thee,  with  silent  meditation,  mused ! 

And  let  this  meditation  heightened  be. 
Religion  !  by  thy  flame,  to  adoration  ! 

And  then  for  things  of  earth  what  careth  he  ? 
For  what  distress  hath  he  not  consolation  ? 

He  who  in  Solitude  his  God  can  see 

Mid  Nature's  loftiest  scenes,  has  found  salvation. 

From  all  the  petty  miseries  of  life  ; 

A  balm  has  gain'd  for  prejudice  and  strife. 

A  tree,  a  cottage,  or  a  child  at  play. 

And  where  the  earth  is  destitute,  the  sky. 

Fantastic  clouds,  when  on  them  the  sun's  ray 
Confers  e'en  supernatural  imagery  ! 

The  speechless  lustre  of  the  new-born  day  ! 

The  solemn  pageant  when  night  broods  on  high  ! 

In  these,  and  thousand  more  such  forms  as  these. 

His  moisten'd  eye,  his  Maker's  goodness  sees ! 
28s 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

In  the  same  year,  1821,  came  "  Personal  Es- 
says on  the  Character  of  Pope  as  a  Poet  and 
Moralist,  and  on  the  Language  and  Objects 
most  fit  for  Poetry,"  a  rather  tedious  piece  of 
argument  in  ten-syllabled  couplets,  dedicated  to 
the  author's  father.  Then,  in  1822,  "The 
Duke  d'Ormond,"  a  tragedy  written  many  years 
earlier,  was  published  ;  and,  in  1823,  "  Poems." 
These  "  Poems,"  which  were  introduced  by  a 
quotation  from  Byron — 

Sorrow  is  knowledge  :   they  who  know  the  most 
Must  mourn  the  deepest  o'er  the  fatal  truth. 
The  tree  of  knowledge  is  not  that  of  life — 

included  some  interesting  but  abstruse  stanzas 
*'on  the  difficulty  with  which,  in  youth,  we 
bring  home  to  our  habitual  consciousness  the 
idea  of  death."  At  the  beginning  of  this  piece 
Lloyd  had  placed  a  passage  from  Elia's  essay 
on  "  New  Year's  Eve"  in  a  recent  "  London 
Magazine."  On  receiving  a  copy  of  the  book, 
Lamb  wrote  ("  Letters"  ii.  79)  with  heroic 
kindness : — 

"  Your  lines  are  not  to  be  understood  read- 
ing on  one  leg.     They  are  sinuous,  and  to  be 

won  with  wrestling.     I  do  assure  you  in  sin- 
286 


CHARLES   LLOYD   IN   LONDON 

cerity  that  nothing  you  have  done  has  given 
me  greater  satisfaction.  Your  obscurity,  where 
you  are  dark,  which  is  seldom,  is  that  of  too 
much  meaning,  not  the  painful  obscurity  which 
no  toil  of  the  reader  can  dissipate  ;  not  the  dead 
vacuum  and  floundering  place  in  which  imagi- 
nation finds  no  footing :  it  is  not  the  dimness 
of  positive  darkness,  but  of  distance ;  and  he 
that  reads  and  not  discerns  must  get  a  better 
pair  of  spectacles.  I  admire  every  piece  in  the 
collection.  I  cannot  say  the  first  is  best :  when 
I  do  so,  the  last  read  rises  up  in  judgment.  To 
your  Mother,  to  your  Sister,  to  Mary  dead, 
they  are  all  weighty  with  thought  and  tender 
with  sentiment.  Your  poetry  is  like  no  other. 
Those  cursed  dryads  and  pagan  trumperies  of 
modern  verse  have  put  me  out  of  conceit  of 
the  very  name  of  poetry.  Your  verses  are  as 
good  and  as  wholesome  as  prose,  and  I  have 
made  a  sad  blunder  if  I  do  not  leave  you 
with  an  impression  that  your  present  is  rarely 
valued."  From  the  poem  written  on  the  death 
of  Mary  Lloyd,  Charles  Lloyd's  mother,  an 
extract  has  already  been  made  (page  20). 
With  the  volume  of  1823  Lloyd's  literary 

career  ended.     The  shadows  then  closed  around 
287 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

him  again  and  he  moved  with  his  family  to 
France,  where  he  died  near  Versailles,  on  Jan- 
uary 16,  1839,  a  month  before  his  sixty-fourth 
birthday.  He  thus  outlived  by  a  few  years 
Coleridge  and  Lamb,  who  both  passed  away  in 

1834. 

Among  the  papers  is  a  long  account  of 
Charles  Lloyd's  children  written  by  Sophia 
Lloyd,  their  mother,  at  some  time  probably  in 
the  first  decade  of  the  century.  This  chapter 
may  well  conclude  with  extracts  from  these 
loving  notes : — 

"  I  expect  few  more  delightful  recollections 
than  those  connected  with  the  infancy  and 
childhood  of  my  children,  and  to  perpetuate 
these  I  have  often  thought  I  would  make 
memoranda  of  those  almost  nameless  circum- 
stances, which  nevertheless  are  of  daily  recur- 
rence, and  nearly  as  frequently  the  occasion  of 
interesting  remark,  from  children  who  have 
been  encouraged  but  not  taught  to  think.  This 
resolution  I  at  length  begin  to  execute  after 
having  read  with  them  the  first  Chapter  of 
Genesis  this  morning.  I  can  be  tolerably  ac- 
curate in  what  is  so  recent,  and  must  afterwards 
288 


CHARLES   LLOYD   IN   LONDON 

endeavour  to  recall  what  has  most  impressed 
me  on  other  occasions.  At  the  3rd  verse, 
'  God  said,  Let  there  be  light,  &:c.,'  I  remarked 
that  whatever  God  thought  proper  to  be  done, 
would  take  place,  if  He  gave  only  an  order  for 
it  to  be  so.  Gros^  [Charles  Grosvenor,  born 
1800]  replied:  '  I  should  think  that  the  light 
would  not  have  come  at  His  speaking  if  He 
had  not  made  it  beside.' — At  the  7th  verse, 
*  And  God  made  the  firmament  and  divided  the 
waters  from  the  waters,'  Gros^  said  :  '  It  seems 
as  if  God  did  not  make  the  world,  but  only- 
altered  it.'  At  the  20th  verse,  '  And  God  said. 
Let  us  make  man,'  James  [James  Farmer,  born 
1801]  said:  '  Why  then,  there  must  be  more 
than  one  God,  or  else  why  does  it  say  let  us  T 
31st  verse :  '  And  God  saw  everything  that  He 
had  made,  &c.' — Gros^  and  James :  '  How 
much  faster  God  can  work  than  we  can  ;  now 
if  we  want  to  make  a  tree,  we  must  set  a  stone 
or  an  acorn,  or  something,  and  then  it  gets  a 
little  bigger,  and  a  little  bigger,  and  still  per- 
haps when  we  are  even  quite  men,  any  body 
would  think  it  was  but  just  a  young  tree.  I 
cannot  think  how  God  could  do  so  much  ;  He 
musi  have  been  very  tired,  though  to  be  sure  it 
X9  289 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   THE   LLOYDS 

was  God,  and  that  is  different  from  us.'  G^os^  : 
*  Mama,  was  it  you  ?  some  one  told  me  that 
God  was  not  any  shape — but  /  think  He  must 
be  all  shapes ;  however,  He  must  if  He  is 
everywhere.  Now  suppose  I  dig  a  round  hole, 
if  God  is  there.  He  must  be  round ;  and  if 
there  was  a  very  long  place,  and  He  was  all 
about  there,  then  He  must  be  long — I  cannot 
think  how  it  is.' 

"  I  have  had  very  little  opportunity  for  ob- 
serving other  children  free  of  that  restraint 
which  the  consciousness  of  observation  neces- 
sarily occasions,  and  of  course  there  is  then 
nothing  natural  or  spontaneous  in  their  re- 
marks. Hence  I  often  ask  myself  whether  all 
infant  minds  dwell  apparently  with  peculiar  in- 
terest on  serious  or  even  religious  subjects'?  I 
am  pursuaded  that  it  would  be  easy  to  render 
such  subjects  more  than  any  other  interesting 
to  them — that  which  cannot  be  fully  explained 
excites  perpetual  curiosity,  and  the  constant 
necessity  one  finds  of  illustration  by  the  analo- 
gies of  ordinary  and  infinitely  inferior  concerns, 
keeps  up  in  the  mind  of  children  a  constant 
idea  of  the  comparative  dignity  of  the  Deity 

and  his  operations.     I  think  too  that  children 
290 


CHARLES   LLOYD   IN   LONDON 

who  do  not  associate  promiscuously  with  others, 
provided  there  be  a  family  large  enough  for  com* 
panionship,  are  in  a  situation  most  favourable 
to  simplicity  of  character,  and  habits  of  reflec- 
tion— or  rather,  upon  reconsidering  this  opinion, 
such  children  are  in  circumstances  most  favour- 
able for  receiving  any  impression  which  their 
parents  may  wish  to  make  upon  them,  and  this 
simplicity  of  character,  this  habit  of  reflection, 
are  the  points  at  which  I  have  aimed ;  but  cer- 
tainly this  comparative  solitude  is  more  likely 
to  produce  great  men,  than  great  scholars.  I 
find  that  my  children  are  what  is  called  more 
backward  than  most  others,  that  is,  they  would 
be  longer  in  reading  you  a  given  quantity,  but 
every  sentence  would  suggest  to  them  some 
inquiry. 

"  2^rd  May. — To-day  James  asked  me  if  we 
were  to  be  very  wicked  in  this  world,  whether 
God  would  make  us  suffer  more  than  Jesus  did 
when  He  was  crucified  *? 

"  James :  '  Mama,  would  it  not  be  as  easy 
for  God  to  stop  us  just  before  we  do  wrong 
things,  as  to  punish  us  for  them  afterwards  ?' 

"  Grof. :  '  Mama,  it  seems  very  wonderful 

that  God  was  never  made,  and  yet  it  would  be 
291 


CHARLES   LAMB  AND   THE   LLOYDS 

quite  as  wonderful  if  He  was  made,  because 
somebody  else  must  have  made  those  that  made 
God,  and  so  still  we  could  not  have  told  how 
the  first  was  made.' 

"  Owen  [born  1 803]  :  '  Could  God  kill  Him- 
self? If  He  was  to  try,  how  do  you  think 
He  would  do  it  V 

"  Grof. :  *  Perhaps  He'd  take  the  flaming 
sword  that  drove  Adam  and  Eve  out  of  Para- 
dise.' 

"  Gr^/. ;  '  Mama,  does  worlJ  without  end 
mean  that  because  the  world  is  round  there  is 
no  end  to  it  *?' 

*'  Going  to  church  one  very  wet  Sunday, 
Grosvenor  said :  '  Suppose  nobody  should  be 
there  beside  ourselves,  then,  I  suppose,  the 
parson  will  go  away.' 

"  I  answered, '  No,  if  there  are  three  people 
there,  I  believe  he  would  be  obliged  to  read 
the  prayers.' 

"  Owen :  '  I  suppose  that  is  because  there  are 
three  persons  in  the  God-head.' 

"  Gros\  :■  '  Who  I  wonder  lighted  the  first 
firer 

"  James :  I  suppose  it  was  lighted  at  the  sun.' 

"  Gros"  :  '  No,  that   could  not  be,  because 

2(J2 


CHARLES   LLOYD   IN   LONDON 

then  there  must  have  been  that  kind  of  Glass 
which  Mama  told  us  of,  and  Glass  cannot  be 
made  without  fire.' 

"  I  remarked  one  cold  morning, '  How  thank- 
ful you  should  be  who  have  fire  and  clothing 
this  cold  weather.  Many  poor  children  have 
not  either.' 

"  James :  *  Well,  then,  Adam  and  Eve  did 
some  good,  for  if  they  had  never  been  naughty 
we  should  have  been  as  badly  off.' 

"  *  If  God  does  not  love  wicked  people,  and 
He  can  do  everything,  why  does  He  not  make 
everybody  good  *?' 

"'Does  God  live  in  the  ceiling  of  the 
Garden  V 

" '  Is  there  a  Prince  of  Wales  now  ?  I 
thought  there  never  had  been  but  one.'  '  And 
who  was  that*?'     'Jonah.' 

" '  Look,  James,  at  those  beautiful  clouds  I 
they  are  almost  like  Gold.'  A  ftw  minutes 
after :  '  Why,  all  those  beautiful  clouds  are 
gone  !  I  suppose  God  has  taken  them  to  make 
rainbows  of.  .  .  .' 

"  Gros^. :  '  What  a  great  many  things  this 
sunshine  will  make  glad  I  It  makes  us  very 
glad.  Mama,  because  you  can  take  us  this  nice 

293 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

walk,  and  the  birds  will  be  glad  because  it  will 
make  the  ground  soft  for  them  to  find  worms, 
and  it  will  make  the  cows  glad  because  all  the 
snow  will  go  off  the  grass,  so  almost  everything 
will  be  glad.'  During  this  walk  we  saw  many- 
trees  that  seemed  to  have,  as  it  were,  a  foliage 
of  ice.  Gros^  said,  '  Mama,  how  beautiful  it 
looks,'  and  ran  on,  but  soon  returning  he  said, 
'  Do  you  think  this  would  do  for  a  tale  about 
it,  "  Upon  the  branches  of  the  trees,  the  falling 
drops  do  freeze'"?'  Just  afterwards  we  ob- 
served a  hawthorn  covered  with  moss.  Gros^ 
said :  '  I  don't  know  whether  that  is  more  beau- 
tiful even  in  summer  than  it  is  in  winter,  "  the 
hawthorn  tree  where  moss  doth  grow,  the 
hawthorn  tree  where  flowers  do  blow."  *  I 
shall  very  long  remember  this  walk  :  we  gath- 
ered moss  and  lichens,  cracked  the  ice  upon 
every  runner  that  crossed  our  way,  knocked  off 
the  icicles  that  loaded  every  weed  or  plant  which 
grew  within  reach,  and  spent  four  hours  in 
walking  as  many  miles,  seldom  in  silence,  and, 
I  believe,  when  we  reached  home,  that  each  of 
us  thought  the  morning  had  been  well  spent. 
"  I  had  long  promised  the  children  that  I 

would  ask  D.  W.  [Dorothy  Wordsworth]  to 
294 


CHARLES   LLOYD   IN   LONDON 

spend  a  week  with  them,  and  on  the of 

April  I  went  to  Grasmere  for  her ;  on  my  re- 
turn, as  I  entered,  I  passed  all  the  children, 
who,  seeing  me  with  a  small  bundle  of  D's. 
clothes  in  my  hand,  cried  out :  '  Oh,  she's  come, 
she's  come  I'  and  away  they  ran  without  staying 
to  see  even  if  they  were  guessing  right ;  in  a 
minute  or  two  they  all  came  back  with  a  flower, 
the  treasured  produce  of  their  own  gardens ; 
this  gave  me  a  pleasure  which  one  naturally 
feels  in  any  involuntary  proof  of  disinterested 
kindness.  But  the  day  before  I  heard  them 
comparing  the  beauty  and  size  of  their  flowers, 
and  how  long  they  would  probably  live,  &c. 
1  knew  they  had  watched  them  day  after  day, 
and  thought  '  they  never  would  be  flowers.' 
But  poor  little  Eddy  [Edward,  born  1804]  had 
watched  in  vain !  When  his  brothers  gave 
Dora  their  full  blown  polyanthus,  he  had  only 
a  just  budding  primrose  to  offer.  He  joined 
in  with  the  circle  which  they  formed  round  her, 
and  with  them  thrust  forward  his  hand,  but 
turned  away  his  head,  looking  as  tho'  he  could 
not  bear  to  withhold  what  he,  notwithstanding, 
was  ashamed  to  give.  The  recollection  brings 
tears  into  my  eyes,  as  the  sight  did  into  James's, 
295 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

who,  when  he  saw  Edward's  confusion,  said : 
'  It's  the  best  Eddy's  got,  Dorothy,  he's  such  a 
little  boy.'  And  Owen,  tho'  it  stript  his  border 
of  its  only  beauty,  fetched  a  polyanthus  saying, 
*  Well,  Eddy  may  give  mine,  and  that's  a  very 
fine  one.' " ' 


'  It  might  be  added  that  Grosvenor  died  in  1840,  James  in  188 1, 
Owen  in  1838,  and  Edward  in  1865.  The  other  children  were 
Arthur,  Mary,  Sophia,  Priscilla,  Agatha  and  Louisa. 


296 


XVII 

MR.  Lloyd's  later  years 
1817-1828 

Mr.  Lloyd  grew  old  with  the  deliberation 
and  serenity  of  which  Quakers  hold  the  secret. 
Although  he  reached  a  great  age  his  powers 
never  deserted  him.  In  his  business,  in  public 
affairs  both  national  and  local,  in  his  farm  at 
Olton  Green,  and  in  his  books,  his  mind  found 
that  continuous  yet  changeful  occupation  which 
is  its  best  preservative. 

Among  the  miscellaneous  letters  in  our  bun- 
dle is  one  from  William  Wordsworth  to  Mr. 
Lloyd,  the  publication  of  which  is  commanded 
by  the  Spirit  of  Mischief.  Herein  we  find  the 
poet  of  primitive  simplicity  (who  some  years 
later  was  to  write  the  "  Proud  were  ye.  Moun- 
tains," sonnet,  suggested  by  the  projected  Ken- 
dal and  Windermere  line),  asking  Mr.  Lloyd's 
advice  concerning  the  best  railway  company  in 
which  to  invest  five  hundred  pounds.     This  is 

the  sonnet : — 

297 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Proud  were  ye.  Mountains,  when,  in  times  of  old. 

Your  patriot  sons,  to  stem  invasive  war. 

Intrenched  your  brows  ;  ye  gloried  in  each  scar  : 
Now,  for  your  shame,  a  Power,  the  Thirst  of  Gold. 

That  rules  o'er  Britain  like  a  baneful  star. 
Wills  that  your  peace,  your  beauty,  shall  be  sold. 

And  clearway  made  for  her  triumphal  car 
Through  the  beloved  retreats  your  arms  enfold  ! 
Heard  ye  that  Whistle  ?     As  her  long-linked  Train 

Swept  onwards,  did  the  vision  cross  your  view? 

Yes,  ye  were  startled ; — and,  in  balance  true. 
Weighing  the  mischief  with  the  promised  gain. 

Mountains,  and  Vales,  and  Floods,  I  call  on  you 
To  share  the  passion  of  a  just  disdain. 

This  is  the  letter : — • 

"  My  dear  Sir, — You  will  be  surprised  with 
the  matter  which  this  letter  will  turn  upon — 
viz.,  something  like  money  business,  and  I  feel 
chat  I  ought  not  to  approach  you,  without  pre- 
viously resting  my  apology  on  your  known 
friendly  disposition.  To  come  to  the  point  at 
once,  I  have  been  led  to  consider  Birmingham 
as  the  point  from  which  the  railway  companies 
now  forming  receive  their  principal  impulse,  and 
I  feel  disposed  to  risk  a  sum — not  more  than 

500/. — in  purchasing  Shares  in  some  promising 
298 


MR.  LLOYD'S   LATER   YEARS 

Company  or  Companies.  I  do  not  wish  to  in- 
volve you  in  the  responsibihty  of  advising  an 
Investment  of  this  kind,  but  I  hope  I  do  not 
presume  too  much  when  I  request  that  you 
would  have  the  kindness  to  point  out  to  me, 
what  Companies  are  thought  the  most  eligible, 
adding  directions  as  to  the  mode  of  proceeding 
in  case  I  determine  upon  purchasing. 

"  We  heard  from  Dr.  Wordsworth  about  3 
weeks  ago ;  as  he  does  not  mention  Owen,  we 
infer  that  his  health  is  improved.  He  speaks 
of  his  Son  John  being  much  benefited  by 
Horse  exercise,  I  hope  you  receive  good  tid- 
ings from  France.  We  are  all  very  well  here, 
and  with  our  united  best  regards  to  you  and 
your  numerous  Family,  believe  me  to  be,  dear 
Sir,  very  sincerely  yours, 

"Wm.  Wordsworth.^ 

"  Rydal  Mount,  January  6,  1825." 

'  This  letter  lends  point  to  the  late  J.  K.  Stephen's  diverting  parody 
of  Wordsworth  in  "  Lapsus  Calami."  "  Poetic  Lamentation" — such 
is  the  title — "on  the  Insufficiency  of  Steam  Locomotion  in  the  Lake 
District"  : — 

Bright  Summer  spreads  his  various  hue 

O'er  nestling  vales  and  mountains  steep, 
Glad  birds  are  singing  in  the  blue, 
In  joyous  chorus  bleat  the  sheep. 
299 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Dr.  Wordsworth  was  Christopher,  the  poet's 
brother,  and  Mr.  Lloyd's  son-in-law.  The  pas- 
sage concerning  news  from  France  refers  to 
Charles  Lloyd,  then  living  in  that  country. 

Southey  also  was  among  Mr.  Lloyd's  corre- 
spondents, with  reference  to  a  history  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  which  he  contemplated  but 
unfortunately  did  not  write.  He  found  Mr. 
Lloyd's  knowledge  of  great  assistance  in  his 

But  men  are  walking  to  and  fro, 

Are  riding,  driving,  far  and  near, 
And  nobody  as  yet  can  go 

By  train  to  Buttermere. 


Wake,  England,  wake  !   'tis  now  the  hour 

To  sweep  away  this  black  disgrace — 
The  want  of  locomotive  power 

In  so  enjoyable  a  place. 
Nature  has  done  her  part,  and  why 

Is  mightier  man  in  his  to  fail  ? 
I  want  to  hear  the  porters  cry 

"  Change  here  for  Ennerdale  !'* 


Presumptuous  nature,  do  not  rate 

Unduly  high  thy  humble  lot. 
Nor  vainly  strive  to  emulate 

The  fame  of  Stephenson  and  Watt. 
The  beauties  which  thy  lavish  pride 

Has  scattered  through  the  smiling  land 
Are  little  worth  till  sanctified 

By  man's  completing  hand. 
300 


MR.  LLOYD'S   LATER    YEARS 

preliminary  studies.  The  following  is  the  most 
interesting  of  Southey's  letters  on  this  sub- 
ject :— 

*' Keswick,  Nov.  25,  1820. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  have  just  received  your 
parcel  of  books,  with  your  letter  of  the  20th. 
I  received  also  G.  Whitehead's  Journal  and  the 
epistles  of  the  Yearly  Meeting.  For  these 
favours  I  am  much  obliged,  and  not  less  so  for 
the  friendly  solicitude  which  you  express,  lest 
I  should  write  erroneously  or  unadvisedly,  and 
thereby  give  offence. 

"  I  am  not  so  ignorant  of  mankind,  or  so  in- 
experienced in  the  world  as  to  suppose  it  pos- 
sible that  such  a  work  can  be  written  without 
offending  some  of  the  Society  to  whom  it  re- 
lates, unless  it  were  composed  with  the  direct 
object  of  pleasing  them.  But  I  am  sure  that 
no  just  and  even-minded  member  of  the  Society 
ought  to  be  offended  with  what  I  shall  write, 
no  person  who  will  allow  to  me  the  same 
freedom  of  opinion  (always  exercised  within 
the  hmits  of  charity)  which  he  claims  for  him- 
self. The  errors  of  the  early  Quakers  were 
those  of  their  age,  their  virtues  were  their  own. 
I  will  do  the  amplest  justice  to  their  virtues. 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

but  I  shall  neither  conceal  their  faults  nor  those 
of  their  opponents  and  persecutors.  If  I  did, 
the  lesson  of  charity,  which  the  book  is  de- 
signed to  enforce,  would  be  weakened  and  in- 
compleat.  These  things  are  matter  of  history. 
The  life  of  George  Fox  must  be  written  as 
that  of  Luther,  of  Calvin,  and  of  our  own 
Cranmer,  without  setting  down  anything  in 
malice,  or  withholding  anything  in  favour. 
After  all  subtractions  that  may  be  made,  he, 
like  them,  will  remain  a  good,  an  eminent,  an 
influential  man — a  great  and  chosen  agent  in 
the  moral  and  religious  world.  The  members  of 
the  Church  Establishment  will  not  be  offended 
when  I  shall  speak  of  the  severity  which  was  ex- 
ercised against  the  Quakers  in  the  strongest  terms 
of  condemnation.  The  members  of  your  So- 
ciety will  have  as  little  reason  to  be  offended, 
because  I  do  not  dissemble  the  provocation 
which  their  predecessors  gave.  Perhaps  no 
person  understands  the  temper  of  those  times 
better  than  myself,  because  no  person  has 
studied  their  history  more. 

"  With  regard  to  facts  then,  my  intention  is 
and  must  be  to   compose  a  full  and  faithful 

history,  and  that  history  could  not  be  faithful 
302 


MR.  LLOYD'S   LATER    YEARS 

unless  it  were  full.  With  regard  to  the  manner 
of  relating  them,  I  can  only  say  that  there  will 
be  no  intention  to  offend,  and  that  I  verily  be- 
lieve no  person  will  be  offended  whom  I  could 
possibly  be  desirous  of  pleasing. 

"  Touching  the  tenets  and  discipline  of  the 
Society,  tho'  I  am  under  no  apprehension  of 
committing  any  material  error  (seeing  how 
ample  the  materials  are  from  which  the  account 
must  be  derived)  I  repeat  that  it  will  give  me 
great  pleasure  to  submit  the  chapters  which 
relate  to  them  to  your  perusal  before  they  are 
printed. 

"  Farewell,  my  dear  Sir,  and  believe  me, 
"  Yours,  with  sincere  respect, 

"  Robert  Southey." 

Mr.  Lloyd  knew  of  an  influence  for  sweet- 
ness and  alertness  better  even  than  these  multi- 
tudinous interests ;  and  that  was  the  constant 
companionship  of  young  people.  He  delighted 
to  sun  himself  in  his  grandchildren's  society,  to 
devise  amusements  for  them,  to  hear  their  ad- 
ventures, and  to  tell  them  his  own.  And  so 
fruitful  were  the  Lloyds  that  it  was  a  joy  easily 
gratified. 

303 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND    THE   LLOYDS 

Mr.  Lloyd  had  the  pleasant  habit  of  ad- 
dressing from  time  to  time  to  certain  of  his 
grandchildren  long  rhyming  letters  filled  with 
family  news  and  kindly  counsel.  Among 
those  that  have  been  handed  down,  one  dated 
September  lo,  1817,  a  few  days  before  his 
seventieth  birthday,  is  interesting  for  the  tale 
of  grandchildren  which  it  presents.     Thus  : — 

Mary,  your  Aunt,  has  children  five. 

Who  all  1  hope  will  prove 
A  comfort  to  their  Parents  dear. 

And  join  the  general  love. 
Anna,  your  Aunt,  has  also  five. 

All  very  fond  of  play. 
All  these  I  knovi'  vv^ould  much  enjoy. 

With  you  a  holiday  ; 
And  I  should  very  much  delight 

Could  you  w^ith  them  be  seen. 
Running  about  the  pleasant  lane 

Which  is  at  Olton  Green, 
Your  cousins  also  from  the  Lakes 

Three  boys,  four  girls,  would  be 
With  Grosvenor  in  addition  too 

Such  pretty  company  : 
Your  uncle  Plumstead's  children  five 

Should  also  be  invited. 
And  your  Aunt  Susan's  children  three 

I  think  would  be  delighted 
304 


MR.  LLOYD'S    LATER    YEARS 

To  join  the  party  in  the  lane. 

Where  blackberries  abound. 
And  where  in  hedges  round  the  field. 

In  plenty  nuts  are  found. 
The  nurse  might  carry  in  her  arms 

Aunt  Agatha's  great  treasure. 
And  then  the  sight  of  such  a  group 

Would  give  me  heartfelt  pleasure : 
For  if  you  all  were  there,  I  think 

If  rightly  I  can  count. 
My  very  dear  Grandchildren  would 

To  forty-one  amount.' 

In  1821,  when  Mrs.  Lloyd,  who  long  had 
been  in  ill-health,  passed  away,  the  number  of 
grandchildren  had  been  increased  to  forty-seven. 
Had  all  lived  the  total  would  have  been  ten 
more. 

In  another  of  Mr.  Lloyd's  familiar  epistles, 
written  in  1823,  a  few  of  these  grandchildren 
were  described  more  particularly.  Thus,  in  the 
account  of  a  holiday  party : — 

'  Mary,  who  is  the  first  mentioned  in  this  list,  became  the  wife  of 
George  Braithwaite ;  and  Anna,  of  Isaac  Braithwaite.  The  cousins 
from  the  Lakes  were  the  children  of  Charles  and  Sophia  Lloyd.  Plum- 
stead  Lloyd  married  Frances  Batcnson.  Susan  was  Susanna  White- 
head, the  widow  of  Thomas  Lloyd.  Agatha  was  the  wife  of  James 
Pearson.  The  two  families  unrepresented  were  those  of  Robert  and 
James,  to  whom  the  verses  were  inscribed. 
ao  305 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

My  Grandson  John  Wordsworth  attempted 

A  prize  golden  medal  to  gain. 
He  wrote  a  long  poem  in  rhyme. 

But  alas  his  attempt  proved  in  vain  ! 
The  subject,  the  death  of  Jane  Grey 

On  which  he  dilated  with  spirit. 
And  tho'  he  obtained  not  the  prize. 

His  verses  have  very  much  merit. 
Fanny  looks  fresh  as  a  rose, 

But  is  too  fond  of  curling  her  hair, 
I  wish  her  to  dress  very  neat. 

But  as  simple,  as  now  she  is  fair; 
But  alas,  all  my  Granddaughters  seem 

Too  much  to  launch  out  in  their  dress. 
And  the  more  they  do  this  (may  I  say 

Without  hurting)  they  please  me  the  less. 
For  neatness,  and  simple  attire. 

Enliven  the  feminine  graces. 
And  give  a  most  exquisite  charm. 

To  young  and  to  innocent  faces. 
Grosvenor  reads  a  few  verses  in  Greek, 

Every  morning,  when  breakfast  is  done. 
But  I  cannot  prevail  on  him  yet. 

Nor  on  Fanny,  to  rise  with  the  Sun, 
And  Emma  is  fond  of  her  bed. 

And  I  think  would  be  apt  to  rise  late. 
But  she  knows  very  well  that  she  must 

Be  ready  for  breakfast  at  eight. 

Fanny  and  Emma,  who  liked  folding  of  the 

hands  to  sleep,  were  the  daughters  of  James 
306 


MR.  LLOYD'S   LATER   YEARS 

Lloyd.  We  have  another  ghmpse  of  Fanny 
in  the  admirable  stanza  from  an  amusing 
description  of  his  cousins  written  by  Owen 
Lloyd : — 

But  Fanny  owns  but  Nature's  laws : 

Concealment's  surely  sin  ! 
And  so  she  told  her  love  because 

She  could  not  keep  it  in. 

Grosvenor  was  the  eldest  son  of  Charles  Lloyd. 
John  Wordsworth,  who  was  eighteen  at  the 
time  of  this  poem,  subsequently  distinguished 
himself  at  Cambridge,  and  seemed  about  to 
fulfil  his  promise  of  brilliant  scholarship  with 
an  edition  of  "  ^Eschylus,"  when  he  died  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty-four.  It  may  here  be  men- 
tioned that  Charles  Wordsworth,  John's  brother, 
who  was  then  eighteen,  spent  part  of  the  fol- 
lowing Christmas  holidays,  1823-24,  in  com- 
posing a  poetical  letter,  in  English  and  Latin, 
to  his  grandfather.  The  introduction,  which 
is  the  English  portion,  began  thus : — 

My  dear  Grandfather,  tho'  I've  nought  to  tell. 
And  all  that  nought  I  fear  told  o'er  and  o'er. 

You'll  see  by  this  sheet  that,  remembering  well 
My  former  third  reception,  I've  once  more 
307 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

Ventured  in  Pindus  Street  to  ring  the  bell. 
And  Proebus  civilly  hath  oped  the  door : 
Forthwith  I've  sent  my  card  up  to  inquire 
For  a  short  interview  with  Miss  Thalia. 

I  fency  now  I  see  you  by  the  fire 

Sitting  in  your  own  dressing-room  ;  a  cousin 

Or  two  perhaps  attending  on  their  sire. 

Or  as  'tis  Christmas  time,  say  half  a  dozen  : — 

Your  guest,  too,  near  the  door,  whom  I  desire 
Kindly  to  be  remembered  to,  is  dozing 

Just  now,  perhaps,  with  head  from  out  his  nook,  who 

Sings  hourly — like  a  veritable  cuckoo. 

The  door  now  opens  ;  my  epistle  enters  ; 

The  seal  is  broken ;  on  my  wretched  lay 
All  the  attention  of  the  party  centres  : — 

*'  Who  is  it  from  ?"  the  cousins  whisper,  "  hey  ? — 
From  Cousin  Charles  ?     I  wonder  if  he's  sent  us 

Another  verse  epistle.     I  dare  say, 
'Tis  precious  stuff."     Amazed  you  eye  the  stanzas. 
And  fear  my  case  is  worse  than  Sancho  Panza's. 

The  Latin  followed.  The  whole  poem  is 
printed  in  the  late  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews' 
"  Annals  of  my  Early  Life,"  where  may  be 
found  also  Mr.  Lloyd's  translation,  made  in 
his  seventy-seventh  year,  of  the  Latin  poem 
with  which  this  grandson  gained  the  prize  at 

Harrow  in   1825.     The  Bishop  had  pleasant 

.S08 


MR.  LLOYD'S   LATER   YEARS 

memories  of  his  grandfather  sitting  of  an 
evening  with  a  long  clay  pipe. 

Of  the  future  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  and 
his  brother,  Priscilla  Wordsworth,  writing  in 
1815,  a  few  weeks  before  her  death,  had  said  : — 

"  With  regard  to  reading,  we  pursue  exactly 
an  opposite  method  with  Charles,  to  that  which 
we  did  with  John — in  endeavouring  to  tempt 
him  to  read,  by  putting  in  his  hands  the  most 
attractive  books ;  adapted  to  his  years  and  ca- 
pacity— but  as  yet  we  have  not  been  able  to 
give  him  a  taste  for  his  book.  He  is  remark- 
ably backward,  and  will  never,  I  fear,  have  any 
taste  for  learning.  John  has  read  all  the  usual 
routine  of  books  for  children.  Miss  Edgeworth, 
&c.  &c.,  but  they  never  have  seemed  any  food 
for  his  mind.  He  reads  thro'  a  volume  at  a 
sitting,  so  that  it  would  be  in  vain  to  attempt 
furnishing  him  with  small  books.  He  is  just 
now  extremely  wrapped  up  in  Shakspear's  his- 
torical plays,  which,  together  with  a  collection 
of  voyages  which  his  Father  has  lent  him, 
employ  all  his  leisure  time." 

The  prophecy  concerning  Charles — "  he  will 
never  have  any  taste  for  learning" — was 
strangely  falsified ;  for,  although  sufficiently 
309 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

"keen"  on  athletics  to  play,  in  1827,  in  the 
first  Inter-University  cricket  match — he  made 
8  in  the  only  innings  Cambridge  had,  and  took 
(left-hand,  with  a '  twist  from  the  off')  seven  of 
Oxford's  wickets  for  25  runs — and  to  row  in 
the  first  Inter-University  boat-race,  he  became 
subsequently  the  tutor  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  and 
one  of  the  revisers  of  the  New  Testament. 

Another  of  the  grandsons,  Owen  Lloyd, 
Charles  Lloyd's  third  son,  also  engaged  in 
verse  for  his  grandfather's  entertainment.  His 
ballad  of  "  The  Stranger  at  Bingley"  holds  an 
agreeable  character-sketch  of  the  old  man : 

Here  seated  in  his  elbow  chair. 

On  good  terms  with  the  fire, 
A  man  there  sat  whom  none  that  saw 

Could  see  but  to  admire. 

And  frequent  still  the  smile  serene 

On  his  calm  visage  play'd. 
Which,  mirror  of  his  soul,  his  soul's 

Benevolence  display'd. 

Youth  lov'd  his  age,  he  lov'd  their  cares. 
And  while  their  joys  he  view'd 

He  seem'd  like  Jason's  sire  to  have 
His  youth  again  renew'd. 
^10 


MR.  LLOYD'S   LATER    YEARS 

From  another  of  Owen  Lloyd's  family-pieces 
quotation  may  be  made :  a  long  and  innocently 
Bacchanalian  letter  in  rhyme,  despatched  from 
Cambridge,  with  a  present  of  Trinity  Audit 
ale,  to  his  grandfather,  as  a  propitiation.  The 
first  part  of  the  letter  describes  the  young 
diplomatist's  mock  grief  at  being  in  Bingley's 
bad  books ;  the  rest  of  it  shows  the  success  of 
his  ruse.     Thus : — 

First  William  will  the  bottles  hear 

In  th'  hamper  make  a  racket. 
And  then  will  tell  my  Grandfather, 

"  Sir,  here's  of  wine  a  packet." 
**  Come,  Libby,"  dear  grandfather'll  say, 

**  Come  let  us  go  and  see, 
I  never  wrote  to  Friend  Beaufoy, 

For  Wine  :  what  can  it  be  ? 
A  cheese  from  James  ?     The  carriage  has 

Cost  more  than  such  a  curd's  worth. 
From  Cambridge  'tis.     Ah  now  I  see. 

It  comes  from  my  son  Wordsworth." 
But  while  the  hamper  he  unpacks, 

A  note  he'll  lay  his  hands  on. 
And  read  **  Dear  Grandfather,  I  hope 

You'll  find  it  good — Your  Grandson." 
He'll  smile  and  say,  "  I  never  thought, 

Owen  was  really  bad. 
Do  what  he  would  I  ne'er  could  help 

Somehow  to  love  the  lad." 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

**  Why  that's  exactly  as  I  feel," 

Sweet  smiling  Lib  will  say. 
**  That  ne'er  in  this  sad  world  may  be 

A  worse,  is  all  I  pray." 
**  That's  right,  my  dear,  I  like  to  see 

Thee  speak  up  for  thy  cousin." 
**  Yes,  Grandpapa,  and  I  am  sure  there's  not 

Like  him  another  dozen." 

Later  Libby  speaks  again  : — 

"  Of  cousin  Owen  always  I 

Both  did  and  shall  approve. 
And  (is  there  any  harm.  Grandpa, 

To  love  men  cousins  ?)  love." 

And  the  verses  end : — 

Ale  is  the  liquor  then  to  pour 

To  pouting  friends  libation. 
For  as  I  said  before,  it  soon 

Brings  reconciliation. 

Owen  Lloyd  became  incumbent  of  Langdale 
and  died  there  in  1841,  in  his  forty-ninth  year. 
Wordsworth's  tender  Hnes  on  this  beloved  pas- 
tor— "  Lile  Owey,"  as  his  parishioners  called 
him — are  well-known : — 

By  playful  smiles,  alas  too  oft, 
A  sad  heart's  sunshine,  by  a  soft 
312 


MR.  LLOYD'S   LATER    YEARS 

And  gentle  nature,  and  a  free 

Yet  modest  hand  of  charity. 

Through  life  was  Owen  Lloyd  endeared 

To  young  and  old  ;  and  how  revered 

Had  been  that  pious  spirit  a  tide 

Of  humble  mourners  testified. 


Owen  Lloyd  and  Hartley  Coleridge  were  also 
firm  friends.  When  Owen  Lloyd  died  this  was 
the  beautiful  epitaph  that  Hartley  wrote  for 
him : — 

Could  love  devout,  or  longing  sighs,  or  tears. 

From  God  obtain  a  grant  of  lengthened  years. 

Then  wandering  reader,  thou  had'st  never  stood 

Beside  the  grave  of  one  so  young  and  good. 

Still  in  the  small,  but  consecrated  place 

He  spake  of  judgment  and  he  spake  of  grace ; 

Of  judgment  dread,  and  merciful  delay  : 

And  latest  spake  of  that,  the  latest  day. 

When  those — how  few — that  may  compare  with  him. 

Shall  mount  on  high  with  brightest  seraphim ! 

It  is  good  to  think  that  that  perfect  trust  in 
each  other,  and  mutual  understanding,  which 
were  never  to  be  possible  between  Samuel 
Taylor  Coleridge  and  Charles  Lloyd  should 
have  subsisted  between  their  sons. 
313 


CHARLES   LAMB   AND   THE   LLOYDS 

This  passage,  from  another  of  Mr.  Lloyd's 
rhyming  letters,  written  at  Malvern  on  October 
15,  1825,  proves  his  activity  in  his  old  age : — 

I  took  my  Grand-daughters 

This  morning  a  ramble 
But  up  the  steep  hills 

They  could  not  well  scramble. 
So  76  years 

Might  at  this  time  be  seen 
More  able  to  climb 

Than  blooming  eighteen. 

And  here,  from  the  next  of  the  series,  written 
five  days  later,  is  further  testimony  to  the 
Lloyds'  determination  to  multiply : — 

I  have  with  Grandchildren  been  blest ; 

A  numerous  race  indeed  ! 
Already  if  I  count  them  o'er. 

They  do  threescore  exceed  ; 
Of  some  of  these,  I  have  alas ! 

By  illness  been  bereft. 
But  still  to  crowning  closing  years 

Full  fifty  now  are  left ; 
Of  these  the  eldest  has  attained 

The  age  of  twenty-five. 
The  youngest  in  the  world  has  been 

Not  yet  two  months  alive. 
314 


MR.  LLOYD'S   LATER    YEARS 

An  old  man  thus  hedged  about  by  descend- 
ants cannot  be  called  other  than  happy  in  his 
declining  days. 

Mr.  Lloyd  died  on  January  ii,  1828,  in  his 
eightieth  year. 


315 


INDEX 


Alfizri,  173 

"Annual     Anthology,"    Lloyd's 

contributions,  120,  122 
Anti-Jacobiny  The,  85 
jinti-yacobin  Revie-w  and  Maga- 

zinty  TAty  86-93 

Beaumont,  Sir  G.,  and  Alfieri, 
273 

Binyon,  Laurence,  265 

Brown,  T.  E.,  and  the  "Com- 
plete ^ngler,"   143 

Byron,  Lord,  and  Lloyd  and 
Lamb,  92,  93 

Campbell,    J.     Dykes,    on    the 
quarrel  between  Coleridge  and 
Lloyd,  69 
Clarke,    Mrs.,    Mistress    of    the 

Duke  of  York,  182,  183 
Clarkson,      Thomas,      on      Mr. 

Lloyd's  "  Iliad,"  219 
Coleridge,   Derwent,  on  the   old 

Brathay  family,  262 
Coleridge,  Hartley,  his  birth,  33 
Lloyd's  kindness  to  him,  34 
and  Lloyd,  262 
and  Owen  Lloyd,  312,  313 


Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor,  visits 
Birmingham,  30 
addresses  poems  to  Lloyd, 

3»>  41 

accepts  Lloyd  as  a  pupil, 

33 

verses  on  Hartley's  birth, 

34 

letter  concerning  his  future 
to  Mr.  Lloyd,  36 

letter  to  Mr.  Lloyd  con- 
cerning Charles  Lloyd's 
health,  42 

letter  to  Mr,  Lloyd  con- 
cerning Charles  Lloyd's 
future,  47 

reply  to  Mr.  Lloyd's  ques- 
tion,— How  would  he 
live  without  compan- 
ions .'50 

admits  Lloyd  to  the  poeti- 
cal partnership,  55 

the  second  edition  of  the 
"  Poems,"  56 

The  Higginbottom  Son- 
nets, 61-63 

and  "The  Old  Familiar 
Faces,"  68 


3x7 


INDEX 


Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor,  quar- 
rel with  Lloyd,  69 

composes  "Kubla  Khan," 
69 

and    "  Edmund    Oliver," 

71 

and    Lamb's    "  Theses," 

7+ 
letter  to  Lamb  concerning 

the  quarrel,  75,  76 
verses  by  Lloyd,  81 
inscription  in  1834  edition 

of  his  "  Poems,"  84 
and      The     Anti-yacobiiif 

85-89 

reconciliation  with  Lloyd, 

140 
criticism  of  Mr.    Lloyd's 

'«  Iliad,"  195 
and  "The  Friend,"  263 
his    character    by  Agatha 

Lloyd,  264 
his    character    by    Lloyd, 

266 
and  Lloyd's  "  Nugas  Ca- 

norae,"  281 
"Complete  Angler,  The,"  142, 

»43 
Cornwall,  Barry,  and  Lloyd,  279 
Cottle,  Joseph,  on  Charles  Lloyd, 

letter  from  Coleridge  on  the 
Higginbottom  Sonnets,  61 

letter  from  Lloyd  concerning 
his  friendship  for  Cole- 
ridge, 70 


Cowper's     "Homer,"     criticism 
by  Mr.  Lloyd,  195 
See  Seward,  Anna 
See  Lamb,  Charles 
See  Southey,  Robert 

De  guiNCEY,  Thomas,  on  Charles 
Lloyd    260 

"  Desultory  Thoughts  in  Lon- 
don," 81,  83,  284 

"Edmund  Oliver,"  71 
and  Mrs.  Lloyd,  72 
"  English  Bards  and  Scotch  Re- 
viewers," 93 

Gentleman's    Magazine,    Me- 
moir   of    Mr.     Lloyd, 
20-23 

Memoir  of  Robert  Lloyd  by 
Lamb,  189-191 

Mr.    Lloyd's     "Epistles    of 
Horace,"  245 
Godwin,    William,   first  meeting 
with  Lamb,  86 

entertains      Robert      Lloyd, 

174.  178,  179 
Godwin,  Mrs.,  and  Robert  Lloyd, 

175 

"  Holy  Dying," — the  simile  of 

a  rose,  148 

See  Jeremy  Taylor 
Homer,  see  Lloyd,  Charles  (1748- 
1828) 

See  Seward  Anna 


318 


INDEX 


Homer,  see  Lamb,  Charles 

See  Southey,  Robert 
Horace,  see  Lamb,  Charles 

See     Lloyd,     Charles     (1748- 

1828) 

Hutton,      Catherine,      on      Mr. 

Lloyd's  "Odyssey,"  241, 

242 

on  the  advantages  of  being 

born  a  Quaker,  242 
on  Mr.  Lloyd's  "  Horace," 
254 

James,  Mr.   W.    P.,   on    Robert 

Lloyd,  170 
Johnson,    Dr.,  at    Birmingham, 

17 


Lamb,    Charles,    contributes    to 
Lloyd's  poems,  40 
his  meeting  with  Lloyd,  51 
his  poem  to  Lloyd,  52 
his     meeting     with     Robert 

Lloyd,  55 
"Poems"     by     Coleridge, 

Lamb,  and  Lloyd,  56 
visits    Southey   with    Lloyd, 

poem  on  Lloyd,  58,  59 
and  James  White,  64 
coolness  with  Lloyd,  66 
"The  Old  Familiar  Faces," 

68 
the  "  Theses  Quaedam  Theo- 

logicae,"  74 


Lamb,  Charles,   preface   to  i8i8 
edition  of  his  works,  78 
verses  by  Lloyd,  82,  83 
and  TAe  Anti-yacobin,  85 
and      Godwin — "  Toad     or 

Frog?"  86 
defended  by  Lloyd,  90 
first  letter  to  Robert  Lloyd, 

95 
admonished     Robert     Lloyd 

on  his  conduct,  98 
on  Quaker  observances,  104 
on  the  sweets  of  life,  107 
his    poem    "  The    Witch," 

108-113 
harbours     Robert    Lloyd    in 

London, 114 
on  literary  indiscretions,  120 
his  meeting  with  Manning, 

123 
his     susceptibility    to     beve- 
rages, 124 
is  entertained  by  Mr.  Lloyd, 

125 
on  portraits,  137 
and  his  "  Gentle  Giantess," 

138 
on  the  "  Complete  Angler," 

142 
on  the  delights  of  town,  144, 

145 
on  Manning,  146 
on       Fletcher's        "  Purple 

Island,"  147 
on    Jeremy    Taylor,     147- 

15s 


319 


INDEX 


Lamb,  Charles,  on  "selections" 

from  authors,  153-lSS 
on  Cooke's  acting  in  "  Rich- 
ard III.,"  156-160 
on    certain   old   playwrights, 

158,  IS9 
on     Robert's     engagement, 

164 
on    the    blessedness    of    the 

single  state,  168 
"Poetry  for  Children,"   181 
on  Mrs.  Clarke's  notoriety, 

l8z 
on     Coleridge's     "  Friend," 

185 
moves     to     Inner    Temple 

Lane,  185 
his  memoir  of  Robert  Lloyd, 

189 
on    Mr.    Lloyd's    "  Iliad," 

419-227 
on  nicety  of  rhyme,  227 
on  Mr.  Lloyd's  "  Odyssey," 

229-241 
on  Cowper's  "  Homer,"  233 
on     Homer     and     Milton, 

133 
on  Mr.  Lloyd's   "  Horace," 

245-254 
on    Barron    Field's     poems, 

283 
on  Lloyd's  "  Poems,"  286 
facsimile  of  letter  to  Robert 

Lloyd  ,   to  face  p.  107 
Lepaux  and  the  Theophilanthrop- 
ists,  90,  91 


Letters  :  S.  T.  Coleridge  to  Mr. 

Lloyd,  36,  42,  47 
Catherine      Hutton      to      Mr. 

Lloyd,  231,  241,  254 
Letters,  Charles  Lamb  to  Robert 

Lloyd,    95,    98,    103,    107, 

108,    121,  124,    136,    142, 

•47,    153.    156,    164,    167, 

171,  184,  229 
Charles    Lamb   to  Mr.    Lloyd, 

219,   226,    230,    232,    236, 

245 
Agatha      Lloyd     to     Hannah 

Lloyd,  264 
Charles   Lloyd    to   Robert,   28, 

29,  80,  266,  267,  269,  270 
Charles      Lloyd      to     Hannah 

Lloyd,  189,  277,  284 
Charles   Lloyd  to   Mr.    Lloyd, 

255 
Robert      Lloyd      to      Hannah 

Lloyd,   173,  177,  178,  179, 

180,  182 
Thomas    Manning    to    Robert 

Lloyd,  128,  132 
Anna   Seward    to    Mr.    Lloyd, 

196,  202,  207 
Robert  Southey  to  Mr.  Lloyd, 

217,  243,  257,  300 
Priscilla  Wordsworth   to  Han- 
nah Lloyd,  273 
William   Wordsworth    to    Mr. 
Lloyd,  298 
Lloyd,    Agatha,    her    opinion  of 
Coleridge,  264 
her  poetical  descendants,  265 


320 


INDEX 


Lloyd,  Charles,  (1637-1698),  15 
(1662-1747),  16 
(1748-1828),  the  extent  of 

his  family,  18 
his  character  (from  the  Gen- 
tleman's Magazine,")  20 
letter  to  Robert  about  Cole- 
ridge, 35 
letter  from    Coleridge  about 

his  future,  36 
letter  from  Coleridge,  about 

Lloyd's  health,  42 
(1748-1828),    letter     from 

Coleridge     about     Lloyd's 

future,  47 
reasons  with  Robert,  115 
entertains  Lamb,  125 
his     character     by    Robert, 

162 
his       translation       of      the 

"Iliad,"  194-228 
his       translation       of      the 

"  Odyssey,"  229-244 
his    translation  of  Horace's 

Epistles,  245-258 
letter  from  W.  Wordsworth, 

298 
and     Southey's     history     of 

Quakers,  300 
and  his  grandchildren,  303- 

315 
his  death,  315 
(1775-1839),  his  character, 

17 
joins     Wilkinson    at    Yan- 
wath,  28 


Lloyd,  Charles,  letters  to  Robert, 

recommending  a  course  of 

reading,  28,  29 
meets  S.  T.  Coleridge,  30 
domesticates     with     S.     T. 

Coleridge,  33 
his  character  by  Coleridge,  34 
as  critic  of  Coleridge,  39 
"  Poems   on    the    death    of 

Priscilla  Farmer,"  40 
his  health  at  Bristol,  45 
his  future   as   Coleridge   saw 

it,  48 
his  meeting  with  Lamb,  51 
Lamb   addresses    a   poem  to 

him,  52 
letters  to  Robert  about  Lamb, 

54 
leaves  Stowey,  56 
(1775-1839),  "  Poems"  by 

Coleridge,       Lamb       and 

Lloyd,  56 
letter  to    Robert  about    the 

"  Poems,"  59 
and    Nehemiah    Higginbot- 

tom,  61 
lives  in  London  with  White, 

64 
his    alienation     from    Cole- 
ridge, 69 
"  Edmund       Oliver"      and 

Coleridge,  71 
letter  to  Robert  on  quarrels ,  80 
verses  on  Coleridge,  81 
verses  on  Lamb,  82,  83 
and  The  Ant'i- Jacobin,  85-90 


321 


INDEX 


Lloyd,    Charles,    replies    to    The 
Anti-yacobin  satire,  90 
moves  to  Cambridge,  94 
and    Lamb's     poem     "  The 

Witch,"  112 
his  poems  in  the  '•  Annual 

Anthology,"  120,  122 
his  marriage,  122 
introduces    Lamb    to    Man- 
ning, 123 
reconciliation      with      Cole- 
ridge, 140 
character  by  Robert,  163 
on  Robert's  death,  191 
and  Mr.  Lloyd's  "  Horace," 

his  life  at  Old  Brathay,  259- 

274 
his     conversational    powers, 

261 
his  appreciation  of  Pope,  262 
his  account  of  Coleridge  and 

"The  Friend,"  263 
a  character  of  Coleridge,  267 
his    novel    "Isabel,"    268- 

270 
(1775-1839),     on     sympa- 
thetic relations,  270 
his    character    by   Talfourd, 

272 
and  Shelley,  272 
his  translation  of  Alfieri,  273 
life  in  London,  275-287 
and  Macready,  275-277 
on  London  impressions,  277 
and  Barry  Cornwall,  279 


Lloyd,  Charles,  his   "  Nugae  Ca- 

norae,"   280 
and  Queen  Caroline,  283 
his  "  Desultory  Thoughts  in 

London"  and  later  works, 

284-287 
criticism  by  Lamb,  286 
his  death,  288 
his  family,  295 
Lloyd,  Mrs.  (Mary  Farmer),  wife 

of  Charles  Lloyd   (1748- 

1828),  18 
her  character  by  her  son,  19 
on  "  Edmund  Oliver"  and 

novelists,  72 
on  Robert's  taste  in  dress,  97 
her  character  by  Lamb,  132 
her  death,  305 
Lloyd,  Owen,    a    stanza    on    his 

cousin,  307 
a  portrait  of  Mr.  Lloyd,  310 
verses  to  Mr.  Lloyd,  311 
his  epitaph  by  Wordsworth, 

and  by  Hartley  Coleridge, 

312,  313 
Lloyd,  Priscilla,  set  Wordsworth, 

Priscilla 
Lloyd,  Robert,  apprentice  at  Saf- 
fron Walden,  28 
first  meeting  with  Lamb,  55 
first  letter  from  Lamb,  95 
is    reasoned    with    by   Lamb 

on  his  conduct,  98 
and  Quaker  observances,  loz 
runs  away,  1 14 
meets  with  Manning  1 18 


322 


INDEX 


Lloyd,  Robert,  letters  from  Man- 
ning, 128,  132 
in  town  with  Priscilla,  141 
his  character  sketch  of  Mr- 
Lloyd,  i6z 
his     character     sketch     of 

Charles  Lloyd,  163 
his  marriage,  166 
visits  London,  173-184 
and  the  Godwins,  174,  175, 

178,  179 
visits     Charles     and     Mary 

Lamb,  180 
a  character  sketch  of  Lamb, 

180 
his  death,  188 
testimony  of  his  wife,  188 
memoir  by  Lamb,  189—192 
testimony     of     his     brother 

Charles,  191 
testimony    of     his     brother 

James,  192 
the  younger   and   the   cake, 
193 
Lloyd,  Sampson  (i 664-1 724)  16 
Lloyd,     Sampson      (i  699-1 779) 

and  Dr.  Johnson,  17 
Lloyd,  Sophia,  her  first  child,  139 
estimate  by  De  Quincey,  261 
and    the    young    Coleridges, 

263 
and  her  children,  288-296 

Manning,    Thomas,    as    Robert 
Lloyd's  counsellor,  1 18 
meets  Lamb,  123 


Manning,    Thomas,    letters    to 
Robert  Lloyd,  128,  132 
his  character  by  Lamb,  146 
Milton  John,  tee  Lamb,  Charles 

"  New  Morality,  The,"  85 

Phillips,  Stephen,  266 
Poole,  Thomas,  39,  57 
Pope's    "  Homer,''    see    Seward, 
Anna 
See  Lamb,  Charles 
See  Southey,  Robert 
Portraits,  Charles  Lamb,  by  Haz- 
litt,  frontispiece. 
S.   T.   Coleridge,   by   P.   Van- 
dyke, to  face  p.  30 
Charles  Lloyd,  by  Constable,  to 

face  p.  260 
Sophia  Lloyd,  by  Constable,  to 
face  p.  288 

Seward,    Anna,    disquisitions   on 
translations  of    the    "Il- 
iad,"   196,  201,  207 
her        "Moonlight       land- 
scape," 205,  216 
Shelley,     P.     B.,     and     Charles 

Lloyd,  272 
Southey,  Robert,  at  Burton,  58 
and    Nehemiah     Higginbot- 

tom,  63 
and  The  Anti-yacobin,  89 
on    Mr.    Lloyd's     "Iliad," 

217 
on    metres    for    translators, 
217,  244 


323 


INDEX 


Southey,  Robert,  on  literature  as 
a  profession  and  a  hobby, 
219 
on  Mr.  Lloyd's  "  Odyssey," 

his  attitude  to  Horace,  257 
on  Mr.  Lloyd's  "  Horace," 

257 
on  Quakers,  300 
Stephen,    J.    K.,   his    parody  of 
Wordsworth  justified,  299 

Talfourd,  Serjeant,    on   Charles 

Lloyd,  272 
Taylor,  Jeremy,  147-155 

Walton,  Izaak,  see  **  Complete 

Angler" 
White,    James,     Lloyd's     com- 
panion, 64 
his      supper      to     chimney- 
sweepers, 64 
Wilkinson,   Thomas,  his  opinion 

of  Lloyd,  28 
Witch,  The,  108-II3 


Wollstonecraft,    Mary,   her   two 

daughters,  176 
Wordsworth,  Charles   (Bishop  of 
St.    Andrews),    verses    to 
Mr.  Lloyd,  307 
his  childhood,  309 
Wordsworth,     Chistopher,     and 
Priscilla  Lloyd,  113 
on  loose  rhyming,  227 
Wordsworth,  John,  307 
Wordsworth,         Priscilla        [nit 
Lloyd),  her  appearance  at 
seventeen,  113 
the  mother  of  Bishops,  113 
her  opinion  of  Lamb,  1 17 
her  marriage,  169 
on  Alfieri,  273 
her  death,  274 
on    her    sons,    Charles    and 
John,  309 
Wordsworth,   William,  and  Hor- 
ace, 256 
and  railways,  296—300 
and  Owen  Lloyd,  312 


THE  END. 


324 


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